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Sky Digest

Wednesday, 24 December 2025 | Default Location
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Tonight at a Glance

Waxing Crescent 21%
Dark window: 17:18 – 06:41 (13 h 23 m)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.7 · 32° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Occultation begins
Callisto Occultation begins
Io Occultation ends
Callisto Occultation ends
+2 more — Details
Saturn mag 0.9 · 20° alt · Aquarius Details
Rings: Edge-on (rings nearly invisible) (0.9° north face)

Comets

PANSTARRS mag 6.6 · 29° alt · Pegasus Details
bright 2.18 AU Perihelion: Apr 19 (in 19d)

For Beginners (naked eye)

Hyades
Open Cluster
mag 0.5

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Taurus
M42
Great Orion Nebula Nebula
mag 4.0

At 21:00 look halfway up 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
M81
Bode's Galaxy Galaxy
mag 6.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the northeast

Ursa Major

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 1245
Open Cluster
mag 8.4

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
C5
IC 342 Galaxy
mag 9.2

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Camelopardalis
C23
NGC 891 Galaxy
mag 9.9

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Andromeda
M74
Phantom Galaxy Galaxy
mag 9.4

At 21:00 look high in the southwest

Pisces

The Week Ahead

Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
🌒 21% 🌓 30% 🌓 40% 🌔 50% 🌔 61% 🌔 72% 🌔 82%

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe

What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows. Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the James Webb Space Telescope in the early universe. Although extremely faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for other purposes. A wide-ranging debate is raging about what LRDs may be and what importance they may have. Possible origin hypotheses include accreting supermassive black holes inside clouds of gas and dust, bursts of star formation in young dust-reddened galaxies, and dark matter powered gas clouds. The highlighted images show six nearly featureless LRDs listed under the JWST program that found them, and z, a distance indicator called cosmological redshift. Additionally, searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever previous LRDs might have become today.

APOD is a service of NASA and Michigan Tech. U.

View on NASA APOD

Space News

Sendoff for Artemis II Crew

NASA's Artemis II crew—astronauts Andre Douglas, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian astronauts Jenni Gibbons and Jeremy Hansen—were formally presented before their historic crewed lunar mission.

NASA — 30 Mar 2026

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

NASA awarded Intuitive Machines $180.4 million to deliver seven science payloads to the lunar surface under the CLPS initiative, supporting Artemis program objectives.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Releases Artemis II Moon Mission Launch Countdown

NASA released the launch countdown for Artemis II, targeting no earlier than April 1, 2026, for the first crewed mission to send astronauts around the Moon in over 50 years.

NASA — 26 Mar 2026

NASA Names Scientists to Support Lunar South Pole Science

NASA selected 10 scientists to develop the science plan for Artemis lunar surface operations, including instrument deployment and sample collection at the Moon's south pole.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

Plan your session before dark

Use Tonight to find targets, then add them to a Plan so you have a checklist ready when you're outside.

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