Menu

Sky Digest

Wednesday, 25 February 2026 | Default Location
Showing the sky from Greenwich, London. Log in to use your own location.
Excel

Tonight at a Glance

Waxing Gibbous 65%
Dark window: 18:39 – 05:20 (10 h 40 m)

Bright moon tonight — best deep-sky viewing after moonset (04:22)

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.5 · 61° alt · Gemini Details
Next GRS transit:
Ganymede Occultation begins

Comets

MAPS mag 8.7 · 3° alt · Cetus Details
bright 1.57 AU Perihelion: Apr 4 (in 12d)

For Beginners (naked eye)

M47
NGC 2422 Open Cluster
mag 4.4

At 21:00 look low in the south

Puppis
M42
Great Orion Nebula Nebula
mag 4.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southwest

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 southwest

Ori
M48
NGC 2548 Open Cluster
mag 5.5

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Hydra
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 near the zenith

Gem
C58
NGC 2360 Open Cluster
mag 7.2

At 21:00 look low in the south

Canis Major
Eskimo Nebula
NGC 2392 Planetary Nebula
mag 9.2

At 21:00 look high in the south

Gemini
C7
NGC 2403 Galaxy
mag 8.4

At 21:00 look near the zenith

Camelopardalis
HIP 35210
Double Star
mag 4.8

At 21:00 look low in the south

CMa

Big Scopes (8–12 inch)

Z Cam
Variable Star
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look high in the north

Cam
NGC 2304
Open Cluster
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look high in the south

Gem
NGC 2438
Planetary Nebula
mag 10.0

At 21:00 look low in the south

Pup
M63
Sunflower Galaxy Galaxy
mag 8.6

At 21:00 look halfway up in the northeast

Canes Venatici
RX And
Variable Star
mag 10.2

At 21:00 look halfway up in the northwest

And

The Week Ahead

Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
🌔 65% 🌔 75% 🌔 84% 🌔 92% 🌔 97% 🌕 100% 🌕 100%
Moon occults Kappa Gem Full Moon

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Egg Nebula from the Hubble Telescope

ver wonder what it would look like to crack open the Sun? The Egg Nebula, a dying Sun-like star, can unscramble this question. Pictured is a combination of several visible and infrared images of the nebula (also known as RAFGL 2688 or CRL 2688) taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The star has shed its outer layers, and a bright, hot core (or "yolk") now illuminates the milky "egg white" shells of gas and dust surrounding the center. The central lobes and rings are structures of gas and dust recently ejected into space, with the dust being dense enough to block our view of the stellar core. Light beams emanate from that blocked core, escaping through holes carved in the older ejected material by newer, faster jets expelled from the star’s poles. Astronomers are still trying to figure out what causes the disks, lobes, and jets during this short (only a few thousand years!) phase of the star’s evolution, making this an egg-cellent image to study! APOD Front Page: apod.nasa.gov

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, B. Balick (U. Washington) — APOD is a service of NASA and Michigan Tech. U.

View on NASA APOD

Space News

Artemis II rolls again

Artemis II rocket completed a second rollout to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center, marking progress toward NASA's crewed lunar mission.

ESA — 20 Mar 2026

NASA Simulations Improve Artemis II Launch Environment

NASA used advanced simulations to optimize launch conditions for Artemis II, improving understanding of airflow effects on the rocket during its journey to the Moon.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

NASA’s X-59 Experimental Supersonic Aircraft Makes Second Flight

NASA's X-59 experimental supersonic aircraft completed its second flight, initiating a series of dozens of test flights planned for 2026.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

How Open NASA Data on Comet 3I/ATLAS Will Power Tomorrow’s Discoveries

More than a dozen NASA science missions observed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, with observations now archived in NASA's public data for future research.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

Kepler's Laws Come Alive

Drag velocity vectors to reshape orbits, watch equal areas sweep in equal times, and discover why distant planets orbit slower — all three laws animated in real time.

Kepler's Laws Come Alive Open Kepler's Laws

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