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Sky Digest

Tuesday, 6 January 2026 | Default Location
Showing the sky from Greenwich, London. Log in to use your own location.
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Tonight at a Glance

Waning Gibbous 85%
Dark window: 17:24 – 06:35 (13 h 11 m)

Bright moon tonight — best deep-sky viewing before moonrise (20:07)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.7 · 42° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Shadow transit begins
Io Transit begins
Io Shadow transit ends
Io Transit ends
+3 more — Details

Comets

PANSTARRS mag 6.8 · 21° alt · Pegasus Details
bright 2.21 AU Perihelion: Apr 19 (in 20d)

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 high in the east

Gem
M38
Starfish Cluster Open Cluster
mag 7.4

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Auriga
Blue Snowball
NGC 7662 Planetary Nebula
mag 9.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the west

And
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
M97
Owl Nebula Planetary Nebula
mag 9.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the northeast

Ursa Major

The Week Ahead

Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon
🌖 85% 🌖 77% 🌖 68% 🌖 58% 🌗 48% 🌗 39% 🌗 30%

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Jupiter's Clouds in High Definition from Juno

How complex is Jupiter? NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is finding the Jovian giant to be more complicated than expected. Jupiter's magnetic field has been discovered to be much different from our Earth's simple dipole field, showing several poles embedded in a complicated network more convoluted in the north than the south. Further, Juno's radio measurements show that Jupiter's atmosphere shows structure well below the upper cloud deck -- even hundreds of kilometers deep. Jupiter's newfound complexity is evident also in southern clouds, as shown in the texture and color enhanced featured image taken last month. There, planet-circling zones and belts that dominate near the equator decay into a complex miasma of continent-sized storm swirls. Juno continues in its looping elliptical orbit, swooping near the huge planet every month and exploring a slightly different sector each time around.

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

View on NASA APOD

Space News

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

NASA awards Intuitive Machines $180.4 million to deliver seven science payloads to the lunar surface through the CLPS initiative, directly supporting the Artemis program's goals.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Names Scientists to Support Lunar South Pole Science

NASA selects 10 participating scientists to plan lunar surface operations for Artemis astronauts, including deploying instruments and collecting Moon rocks at the lunar south pole.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Releases Artemis II Moon Mission Launch Countdown

NASA releases the Artemis II mission countdown, targeting launch no earlier than April 1, 2026, for the first crewed mission to send astronauts around the Moon since Apollo.

NASA — 26 Mar 2026

How Europe will power the journey to the Moon and back

The European Service Module will power NASA's Artemis II mission, providing critical propulsion, power, and life support systems for the crewed lunar journey.

ESA — 27 Mar 2026

Never Miss a Meteor Shower

A complete calendar of annual meteor showers with peak dates, hourly rates, moon interference, and radiant positions. Plan ahead and know exactly when to look up.

Never Miss a Meteor Shower Open Meteor Showers

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