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Sky Digest

Tuesday, 30 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

Waxing Gibbous 82%
Dark window: 17:20 – 06:39 (13 h 19 m)

Bright moon tonight — best deep-sky viewing after moonset (04:55)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.7 · 37° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Shadow transit begins
Io Transit begins
Io Shadow transit ends
Ganymede Occultation begins
+4 more — Details
Saturn mag 1.0 · 17° alt · Aquarius Details
Rings: Barely open (1.1° north face)

Comets

PANSTARRS mag 6.6 · 26° 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 south

Taurus
M42
Great Orion Nebula Nebula
mag 4.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southeast

Orion
M45
Pleiades, Seven Sisters or Subaru Open Cluster
mag 1.6

At 21:00 look high in the south

Taurus

Binocular Targets

Mira
68 Cet Variable Star
mag 3.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southwest

Cet
M34
Spiral Cluster Open Cluster
mag 5.5

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Perseus
M31
Andromeda Galaxy Galaxy
mag 3.4

At 21:00 look high in the west

Andromeda

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
M38
Starfish Cluster Open Cluster
mag 7.4

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Auriga
NGC 246
Planetary Nebula
mag 8.0

At 21:00 look low in the southwest

Cet
M81
Bode's Galaxy Galaxy
mag 6.9

At 21:00 look high in the northeast

Ursa Major
32 Eri
Double Star
mag 4.8

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Eri

Big Scopes (8–12 inch)

T Tau
Double Star
mag 9.3

At 21:00 look high in the south

Tau
NGC 1496
Open Cluster
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Per
NGC 1514
Planetary Nebula
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look high in the south

Tau
C5
IC 342 Galaxy
mag 9.2

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Camelopardalis
M76
Little Dumbbell Nebula Planetary Nebula
mag 10.1

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Perseus

The Week Ahead

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

An Artificial Comet

Yes, but can your comet tail do this? No, and what you are seeing is not the tail of a comet. The picture features a cleverly overlayed time-lapse sequence of a group of satellites orbiting Earth together in June. Specifically, these are Starlink communications satellites in low Earth orbit reflecting back sunlight before sunrise to Inner Mongolia, China. Although the satellites appear to the human eye as points, the 20-second-long camera exposures caused them to appear as short streaks. Currently there are over 9000 Starlinks in orbit, with more being launched nearly every week. Other satellite constellations are also being planned. Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator

Image credit: Wang Chao — 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—including astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—has been officially presented ahead of their 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 science payloads to the lunar surface as part of the CLPS initiative supporting the Artemis program.

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, to send astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth.

NASA — 26 Mar 2026

NASA Names Scientists to Support Lunar South Pole Science

NASA selected 10 scientists to develop the lunar surface science plan for Artemis astronauts, including instrument deployment and sample collection at the lunar 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.

Open Tonight

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