Deep Sky Monitor From Curiosity to Cosmos.

About Deep Sky Monitor

Deep Sky Monitor is a free, interactive map of the deep sky: more than 25,000 pulsars, galaxies, nebulae, exoplanets and cosmic explosions, each where it really is, with real telescope images and facts. Everything comes from professional observatories and catalogues (NASA, ESA, CDS SIMBAD, LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA, IceCube, Gaia) and updates on its own. No sign-up, no fees, no ads.

What you can explore here

25,263 objects and events on one map, and what you can find out about each

25,263objects and events
on one live sky map

Tap any of them and you get:

  • Position & constellation
  • Real telescope images
  • Facts (SIMBAD, Wikidata)
  • What's around it
  • Up tonight from your town?
  • How old its light is
  • Favourites & observing log
  • Its patch of sky as JPEG or FITS
  • A link to share

Stars and what they leave behind

  • Pulsars 4,503 known

    Spinning neutron stars that sweep a radio beam past us, from once every few seconds to 700 times a second.

    • Listen to it spin
    • Spin, age, magnetic field
    • P–Ṗ diagram
    • Glitches
  • Magnetars 1 featured

    Neutron stars with the strongest magnetic fields in the universe; they flare in X-rays and gamma rays.

    • Its story
    • P–Ṗ diagram
  • X-ray binaries 358 watched daily

    A black hole or neutron star feeding on a companion star; when the flow surges, it bursts out in X-rays.

    • In outburst today?
    • Daily X-ray light curve
  • Planets around other stars 6,451 planets

    Every confirmed planet around another star, with its system drawn to scale.

    • Planets to scale
    • Habitable zone
    • Chance of life
    • Earth Similarity Index
    • Its star's light curve
  • Named stars & famous objects 817 names

    Bright stars by their proper names, variable stars like Mira and δ Cephei, giant stars like Stephenson 2-18, and nicknames such as the Mermaid Nebula.

    • Search by name
    • Suggestions as you type
    • Light curve, folded on its period
    • Variable type and period (AAVSO)

Galaxies, nebulae and star clusters

  • Galaxies 10,792 NGC/IC

    Island universes of billions of stars, drawn at their true size and angle when you zoom in.

    • True-size outlines
    • Spectrum with its lines
    • How far, how old its light
    • Galaxy Zoo results
  • Nebulae 433 NGC/IC

    Clouds of gas and dust: star nurseries, the shells of dying stars and the wreckage of supernovae.

    • Infrared views through the dust
    • Wavelength layers
  • Star clusters 934 NGC/IC

    Families of stars born together, from young open clusters to ancient globular clusters.

    • Colour–magnitude diagram
    • Members, distance, age
  • Black holes & jets 7 featured

    From Sagittarius A* at the heart of our galaxy to M87* and blazars pointing their jets at us.

    • Its story
    • Optical light curve (blazars)

Cosmic events, as they happen

  • Supernova candidates 274 recent

    Stars exploding in other galaxies, spotted by robotic sky surveys within days.

    • Brightness night by night
    • Its host galaxy
  • Gamma-ray bursts 151 bursts

    The brightest explosions known: dying giant stars or merging neutron stars, seconds long.

    • X-ray afterglow fading
    • Listen to the light curve
  • Gravitational waves 40 events

    Ripples in space from black holes and neutron stars merging, caught by LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA.

    • Where it came from (90% region)
    • Likely host galaxies
  • Neutrino alerts 632 alerts

    Ghostly particles from deep space, caught in the ice under the South Pole by IceCube.

    • Error circle on the sky
    • Chance it is cosmic
    • What lies inside
  • Fast radio bursts 536 bursts

    Millisecond radio flashes from far galaxies; some repeat, most were seen once.

    • Dispersion measure
    • Rough distance
    • Repeating sources
  • JWST & Hubble targets 140 this week

    What the two great space telescopes observed this week and where JWST points next.

    • The programme and its aim
    • Observing now
  • SETI signals 11 signals

    Candidate signals from other civilisations, from the Wow! signal on: what each turned out to be.

    • Hear what it sounded like
    • The verdict

The counts are live: alerts, outbursts and telescope targets refresh on their own every day, the catalogues every week. Under the map, a deep-sky picture of the day from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day takes you to the object it shows. Where each one comes from.

Who can use this portal?

Schools, universities, clubs, astrophotographers, researchers and anyone curious

Anyone with a browser. No sign-up, no fees, no ads.

  • SchoolsShow students the real sky. Find a nebula, hear a pulsar tick, watch where a star explosion happened last week.
  • Colleges & universitiesReal data for lab work and projects: light curves of variable stars, distances, redshifts, CSV or VOTable downloads and FITS images.
  • Astronomy clubsPlan a star party: what is up tonight from your town, when it is highest, and how the Moon gets in the way.
  • AstrophotographersFrame a target before you shoot. Enter your telescope and camera to see your exact field of view on the map, and save the field as a reference image.
  • ResearchersA quick first look at any spot in the sky: catalogue facts, nearby objects, fresh alerts, FITS cutouts and a free JSON API.
  • Citizen scientistsFind real projects where your clicks help scientists sort galaxies, stars and strange signals.
  • Curious mindsNo telescope or degree needed. Search a name, tap a dot, and learn what it is and how old its light is.

Where the data comes from

Only from the people who measure the sky. Object facts come from the CDS SIMBAD database (Strasbourg), galaxies from the OpenNGC catalogue, every known pulsar from the ATNF Pulsar Catalogue, exoplanets from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, and live alerts from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (gravitational waves), IceCube (neutrinos), Swift and ZTF (cosmic explosions). The sky photographs are professional surveys such as DSS2, Pan-STARRS and the DESI Legacy Surveys. Each source, with how fresh it is and how to credit it, is listed in the User Guide's Data sources & credits.

Start with these objects

All 624 sky objects, or search any of more than 25,000 on the live map.

Going out to look tonight? Plan Night Exploration makes your own list: when each object is best placed, where the Moon is, whether your telescope can show it under your sky, and a file to take it into SkySafari, Stellarium or NINA.

Questions people ask

Is it free?
Yes, completely, and there is no account to make.
Is the data live?
Alerts, X-ray outbursts and telescope targets refresh every day; the big catalogues every week. Each page says when its data last changed.
Do I need a telescope?
No. Everything can be explored on screen. When you want to look up, each object's "Tonight" card says when it is up from your town, and Plan Night Exploration rates what your eyes, binoculars or telescope can show.
Can I use the data?
Yes: the catalogues as CSV or VOTable from the data page, sky images as JPEG or FITS, and a free JSON API, under each data provider's own terms.
How do I cite it?
"Deep Sky Monitor, https://portal.deepskymonitor.in, created by Jeet Bhatt", with the data's own source as listed in Data sources & credits.
Start exploring Read the User Guide

Who made it? Why?

Deep Sky Monitor began as a small personal project, born of my curiosity about the universe. With great respect for the observatories and scientists who so kindly share their work with everyone, I have tried to bring some of that public information together in one place. I humbly hope it may be of some help to anyone who shares this curiosity. Thank you for visiting, and I would be most grateful for any suggestions.

Questions, ideas or corrections are most welcome: write to us. The project's introduction is at deepskymonitor.in.

Write to us

Every message is read by a person. Your ideas shape what the portal adds next.

connect@deepskymonitor.in

Each one opens your email with a few questions ready to answer.