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Sky Digest

Wednesday, 11 February 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 Crescent 29%
Dark window: 18:13 – 05:46 (11 h 32 m)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.6 · 60° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Ganymede Occultation begins
Ganymede Occultation ends

For Beginners (naked eye)

M41
Little Beehive Cluster Open Cluster
mag 4.5

At 21:00 look low in the south

Canis Major
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 halfway up in the northwest

Andromeda

Binocular Targets

U Ori
Variable Star
mag 5.4

At 21:00 look high in the south

Ori
M35
Shoe-Buckle Cluster Open Cluster
mag 5.3

At 21:00 look high in the south

Gemini
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 southeast

Gem
NGC 1817
Open Cluster
mag 7.7

At 21:00 look high in the southwest

Tau
M43
De Mairan's Nebula Nebula
mag 9.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Orion
C7
NGC 2403 Galaxy
mag 8.4

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Camelopardalis
3 Gem
Variable Star
mag 5.8

At 21:00 look high in the south

Gem

Big Scopes (8–12 inch)

RX And
Variable Star
mag 10.2

At 21:00 look halfway up in the northwest

And
NGC 2192
Open Cluster
mag 11.0

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Aur
M76
Little Dumbbell Nebula Planetary Nebula
mag 10.1

At 21:00 look high in the northwest

Perseus
M65
Leo Triplet Galaxy
mag 9.3

At 21:00 look low in the east

Leo
NGC 2146
Galaxy
mag 10.5

At 21:00 look high in the north

Cam

The Week Ahead

Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
🌗 29% 🌘 21% 🌘 13% 🌘 7% 🌑 3% 🌑 0% 🌑 0%

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

A Year of Sunspots

How many sunspots can you see? The central image shows the many sunspots that occurred in 2025, month by month around the circle, and all together in the grand central image. Each sunspot is magnetically cooled and so appears dark -- and can last from days to months. Although the featured images originated from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, sunspots can be easily seen with a small telescope or binoculars equipped with a solar filter. Very large sunspot groups like recent AR 4366 can even be seen with eclipse glasses. Sunspots are still counted by eye, but the total number is not considered exact because they frequently change and break up. Last year, 2025, coincided with a solar maximum, the period of most intense magnetic activity during its 11-year solar cycle. Our Sun remains unpredictable in many ways, including when it ejects solar flares that will impact the Earth, and how active the next solar cycle will be.

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

View on NASA APOD

Space News

NASA Sets Coverage for First Artemis Crewed Mission Around Moon

NASA's Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon is targeting no earlier than April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years.

NASA — 25 Mar 2026

NASA Webb, Hubble Share Most Comprehensive View of Saturn to Date

NASA's James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes have captured complementary infrared and visible light images of Saturn, providing scientists with the most comprehensive view of the planet to date.

NASA — 25 Mar 2026

3 weeks and 3 cargo departures for εpsilon

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot reports multiple cargo vehicle departures from the International Space Station within a three-week period, highlighting active ISS resupply operations.

ESA — 20 Mar 2026

Understand Your Telescope

See the light path through six telescope designs: refractor, Newtonian, SCT, Maksutov, RC, and Gregorian. Adjust aperture, focal length, and eyepiece to calculate magnification and field of view.

Understand Your Telescope Open Optics Simulator

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