Menu

Sky Digest

Wednesday, 21 January 2026 | Default Location
Showing the sky from Greenwich, London. Log in to use your own location.
Excel

Tonight at a Glance

Waxing Crescent 9%
Dark window: 17:40 – 06:19 (12 h 39 m)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.7 · 51° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Occultation begins
Io Occultation ends

Comets

PANSTARRS mag 7.0 · 12° alt · Pegasus Details
bright 2.29 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 south

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 1964
Galaxy
mag 10.8

At 21:00 look low in the south

Lep
NGC 1637
Galaxy
mag 10.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Eri

The Week Ahead

Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
🌒 9% 🌒 16% 🌒 25% 🌓 35% 🌓 46% 🌔 57% 🌔 68%

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb

A mere 56 million light-years distant toward the southern constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is an enormous barred spiral galaxy about 200,000 light-years in diameter. That's twice the size of our own barred spiral Milky Way. This sharp image from the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveals stunning details of this magnificent spiral in infrared light. Webb's field of view stretches about 60,000 light-years across NGC 1365, exploring the galaxy's core and bright newborn star clusters. The intricate network of dusty filaments and bubbles is created by young stars along spiral arms winding from the galaxy's central bar. Astronomers suspect the gravitational field of NGC 1365's bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's evolution, funneling gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the active galaxy's central, supermassive black hole.

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 science payloads to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Names Scientists to Support Lunar South Pole Science

NASA selected 10 scientists to support Artemis lunar south pole operations, including deploying instruments and collecting Moon rocks during crewed missions.

NASA — 27 Mar 2026

NASA Releases Artemis II Moon Mission Launch Countdown

NASA releases Artemis II launch countdown for the crewed mission around the Moon, targeting no earlier than April 1 with a two-hour launch window at 6:24 p.m. EDT.

NASA — 26 Mar 2026

How Europe will power the journey to the Moon and back

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

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

Sign in to get this digest by email and customize it for your location.