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Sky Digest

Friday, 13 February 2026 | Default Location
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Tonight at a Glance

Waning Crescent 13%
Dark window: 18:17 – 05:42 (11 h 25 m)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.6 · 61° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Occultation begins
Io 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 2252
Open Cluster
mag 8.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Mon
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)

NGC 2192
Open Cluster
mag 11.0

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Aur
NGC 2440
Planetary Nebula
mag 11.0

At 21:00 look low in the south

Pup
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
NGC 2207
Galaxy
mag 10.7

At 21:00 look low in the south

CMa

The Week Ahead

Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
🌘 13% 🌘 7% 🌑 3% 🌑 0% 🌑 0% 🌑 2% 🌒 6%

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

NGC 147 and NGC 185

Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by side in this deep telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged satellite galaxies of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree across a pretty field of view toward the constellation Cassiopeia, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen much closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing population of small satellite galaxies.

Image credit: Chuck Ayoub — APOD is a service of NASA and Michigan Tech. U.

View on NASA APOD

Space News

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NASA-JAXA’s XRISM Telescope Clocks Hot Wind of Galaxy M82

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Artemis II rolls again

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ESA — 20 Mar 2026

Understand Your Telescope

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