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Sky Digest

Monday, 15 December 2025 | Default Location
Showing the sky from Greenwich, London. Log in to use your own location.
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Tonight at a Glance

Waning Crescent 15%
Dark window: 17:18 – 06:41 (13 h 22 m)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.6 · 26° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Occultation begins
Io Occultation ends
Europa Shadow transit begins
Europa Transit begins
+1 more — Details
Saturn mag 0.9 · 24° alt · Aquarius Details
Rings: Edge-on (rings nearly invisible) (0.7° north face)

Comets

PANSTARRS mag 6.5 · 35° alt · Pegasus Details
bright 2.12 AU Perihelion: Apr 19 (in 18d)

For Beginners (naked eye)

Double Cluster
NGC 869 Open Cluster
mag 4.3

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Perseus
M42
Great Orion Nebula Nebula
mag 4.0

At 21:00 look low in the southeast

Orion
M31
Andromeda Galaxy Galaxy
mag 3.4

At 21:00 look high in the west

Andromeda

Binocular Targets

Mira
68 Cet Variable Star
mag 3.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Cet
M34
Spiral Cluster Open Cluster
mag 5.5

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Perseus
M33
Triangulum/Pinwheel Galaxy Galaxy
mag 5.7

At 21:00 look high in the southwest

Triangulum

Small Scopes (3–6 inch)

Castor
HIP 36850; Alpha Gem; 66 Gem Double Star
mag 2.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the east

Gem
NGC 744
Open Cluster
mag 7.9

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Per
M76
Little Dumbbell Nebula Planetary Nebula
mag 10.1

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Perseus
M77
Cetus A or Squid Galaxy Galaxy
mag 8.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Cetus
R Tri
Variable Star
mag 5.3

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Tri

Big Scopes (8–12 inch)

NGC 1220
Open Cluster
mag 12.0

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Per
C56
NGC 246 Planetary Nebula
mag 10.9

At 21:00 look low in the southwest

Cetus
M74
Phantom Galaxy Galaxy
mag 9.4

At 21:00 look high in the southwest

Pisces
C23
NGC 891 Galaxy
mag 9.9

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Andromeda
NGC 925
Galaxy
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Tri

The Week Ahead

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
🌘 15% 🌘 9% 🌘 4% 🌑 1% 🌑 0% 🌑 1% 🌑 3%

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Gemini Meteors over Snow Capped Mountains

Where are all of these meteors coming from? In terms of direction on the sky, the pointed answer is the constellation of Gemini. That is why the major meteor shower in December is known as the Geminids -- because shower meteors all appear to come from a radiant toward Gemini. Three dimensionally, however, sand-sized debris expelled from the unusual asteroid 3200 Phaethon follows a well-defined orbit about our Sun, and the part of the orbit that approaches Earth is superposed in front of the constellation of Gemini. Therefore, when Earth crosses this orbit, the radiant point of falling debris appears in Gemini. Featured here is a composite of many images taken over the past few days through dark skies from Slovakia and capturing the snow-covered peaks of the Belianske Tatra mountains Numerous bright meteor streaks from the Geminids meteor shower are visible. Orion is visible above the horizon, while the bright star nearest the radiant is Castor. APOD Review: RJN's Night Sky Network Lecture

Image credit: Tomáš Slovinský — APOD is a service of NASA and Michigan Tech. U.

View on NASA APOD

Space News

Watch live: Artemis II launch

Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years, is set to launch on April 1, 2026, carrying four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon.

ESA — 31 Mar 2026

Europe's engines powering Artemis II

Europe's Service Module, equipped with 33 engines, will provide the propulsion and power for Artemis II, demonstrating critical European contribution to this historic lunar mission.

ESA — 30 Mar 2026

NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to Moon

NASA awarded Intuitive Machines $180.4 million to deliver science payloads to the lunar surface as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative supporting the Artemis program.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Releases Artemis II Moon Mission Launch Countdown

NASA released the official launch countdown for Artemis II, with the mission targeting no earlier than April 1 to send astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen around the Moon.

NASA — 26 Mar 2026

Let your eyes adapt

Dark adaptation takes 20–30 minutes. Avoid white light — use ObLog's night mode (red theme) to preserve your vision.

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