Plan Night Exploration
Pick what you want to see, and the planner works out tonight for where you are: when the sky gets dark, where the Moon is, when each object stands highest, and whether your telescope can show it under your sky.
Finding your sky…
Tonight
Saved in this browser, like everything on this page. More in Settings
To plan tonight, the planner needs to know roughly where you are. or enter it in Settings. It stays in your browser.
Your night
Your list is empty. Add objects with below, on any object page, or in an object's details on Explore Deep Sky. They are kept in this browser for your next night too.
Plans to try
5 ready-made-
Showpieces for any telescope
The sights that make people gasp at their first look through a telescope: bright, big and easy to find.
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A binocular tour
Wide, bright objects that look their best in binoculars, even from a town.
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Planetary nebulae: bring an OIII filter
The glowing shells of dying stars, from the famous Ring to tiny blue discs. An OIII filter makes them pop.
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Galaxy season
Spring evenings look away from the Milky Way, deep into space: spirals, edge-on discs and the giant M87.
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Winter star clusters
Sparkling open clusters strung along the winter Milky Way, from Perseus to Puppis. Lovely at low power.
What's up tonight
From the 624 objects with their own page on View Sky Objects. "Can I see it?" is a rough guide from each object's brightness and size, your telescope and your sky; a steady, dark-adapted eye does better.
My observing log
Nothing logged yet. Press I saw it on an object in your list, or use the My observing log card in an object's details on Explore Deep Sky: both write to this one log.