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Sky Digest

Sunday, 18 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

New Moon 0%
Dark window: 17:36 – 06:23 (12 h 46 m)

Aurora Forecast — Very unlikely

Kp 3.3 / need 7 Bz 8.2 nT

Geomagnetic activity far below the Kp 7 needed at your latitude.

View full forecast

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.7 · 49° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Europa Occultation begins
Europa Occultation ends

Comets

PANSTARRS mag 7.0 · 14° alt · Pegasus Details
bright 2.26 AU Perihelion: Apr 19 (in 21d)

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 south

Orion
M31
Andromeda Galaxy Galaxy
mag 3.4

At 21:00 look high in the west

Andromeda

Binocular Targets

U Ori
Variable Star
mag 5.4

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Ori
M37
Salt and Pepper Cluster Open Cluster
mag 6.2

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Auriga
M81
Bode's Galaxy Galaxy
mag 6.9

At 21:00 look high 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 high in the east

Gem
NGC 1907
Open Cluster
mag 8.2

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Aur
M43
De Mairan's Nebula Nebula
mag 9.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Orion
C5
IC 342 Galaxy
mag 9.2

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Camelopardalis
RX Lep
Variable Star
mag 5.7

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Lep

Big Scopes (8–12 inch)

NGC 1605
Open Cluster
mag 10.7

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Per
NGC 7048
Planetary Nebula
mag 11.0

At 21:00 look low in the northwest

Cyg
NGC 1560
Galaxy
mag 11.5

At 21:00 look high in the north

Cam
NGC 1637
Galaxy
mag 10.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Eri
NGC 1964
Galaxy
mag 10.8

At 21:00 look low in the south

Lep

The Week Ahead

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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Jupiter from the Webb Space Telescope

This infrared view of Jupiter by Webb is illuminating. High-resolution infrared images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) reveal, for example, differences between high-floating bright clouds -- including the Great Red Spot -- and low-lying dark clouds. Also clearly visible in the featured Webb image are Jupiter's dust ring, bright auroras at the poles, and Jupiter's moons Amalthea and Adrastea. The footprint of large volcanic moon Io's magnetic funneling of charged particles onto Jupiter is also visible in the southern aurora. Some objects are so bright that light noticeably diffracts around Webb's optics creating streaks. Webb, which orbits the Sun near the Earth, has a mirror over six meters across making it the largest astronomical telescope ever launched -- with over six times more light-collecting area than Hubble.

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 awarded Intuitive Machines $180.4 million to deliver seven NASA-funded science payloads to the lunar surface as part of the CLPS initiative supporting the Artemis program.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Names Scientists to Support Lunar South Pole Science

NASA selected 10 scientists to develop a lunar surface science plan 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 released the launch countdown for Artemis II, targeting no earlier than April 1, 2026, to send four astronauts on a 10-day mission around the Moon.

NASA — 26 Mar 2026

How Europe will power the journey to the Moon and back

Europe's Service Module will provide critical propulsion, power, and life support systems for the Artemis II crewed mission around the Moon.

ESA — 27 Mar 2026

Track the Northern Lights

Real-time Kp index, NOAA aurora oval map, 3-day forecast, and live webcams. See the minimum Kp needed for aurora at your latitude and get alerted when conditions are right.

Track the Northern Lights Open Aurora Forecast

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