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Sky Digest

Monday, 2 March 2026 | Default Location
Showing the sky from Greenwich, London. Log in to use your own location.
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Tonight at a Glance

Waxing Gibbous 100%
Dark window: 18:49 – 05:10 (10 h 20 m)

Bright moon tonight — deep-sky viewing will be limited

Aurora Forecast — Unlikely

Kp 6.3 / need 7 Bz -0.5 nT G1

Need Kp 7+ (currently 6.3). Watch for geomagnetic storm upgrades.

View full forecast

Planet Highlights

Jupiter mag -2.5 · 61° alt · Gemini Details
GRS transit tonight:
Io Shadow transit begins
Io Transit begins
Io Shadow transit ends
Io Transit ends
+2 more — Details

For Beginners (naked eye)

M44
Beehive Cluster or Praesepe Open Cluster
mag 3.7

At 21:00 look high in the southeast

Cancer
NGC 2232
Open Cluster
mag 3.9

At 21:00 look halfway up in the south

Mon
Hyades
Open Cluster
mag 0.5

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southwest

Taurus

Binocular Targets

R Leo
Variable Star
mag 6.0

At 21:00 look halfway up in the southeast

Leo
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

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
Blue Snowball
NGC 7662 Planetary Nebula
mag 9.0

At 21:00 look low in the northwest

And
M81
Bode's Galaxy Galaxy
mag 6.9

At 21:00 look high in the northeast

Ursa Major
R Cnc
Variable Star
mag 7.1

At 21:00 look high in the south

Cnc

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
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
T Tau
Variable Star
mag 9.3

At 21:00 look halfway up in the west

Tau

The Week Ahead

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Full Moon Ursa Major Best Placed

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Dusty Surroundings of Orion and the Pleiades

How well do you know the night sky? OK, but how well can you identify famous sky objects in a very deep image? Either way, here is a test: see if you can find some well-known night-sky icons in a deep image filled with filaments of normally faint dust and gas. This image contains the Pleiades star cluster, Barnard's Loop, Orion Nebula, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Witch Head Nebula, Eridanus Loop, and the California Nebula. To find their real locations, here is an annotated image version. The reason this task might be difficult is similar to the reason it is initially hard to identify familiar constellations in a very dark sky: the tapestry of our night sky has an extremely deep hidden complexity. The featured composite reveals some of this complexity in a 16 hours of sky exposure in dark skies over Granada, Spain. Tonight: Total Lunar Eclipse

Image credit: Ignacio Fernández — APOD is a service of NASA and Michigan Tech. U.

View on NASA APOD

Space News

NASA Simulations Improve Artemis II Launch Environment

NASA used advanced simulations to optimize launch conditions for Artemis II, analyzing airflow effects on the rocket as it travels to space for this crucial crewed lunar test flight.

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 to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight technology.

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 before it leaves the solar system, with observations now available in NASA's public data archives for future discovery.

NASA — 20 Mar 2026

Meet the Platypi: NASA’s Newest Astronaut Candidate Class

NASA's newest astronaut candidate class of ten explorers is currently training at Johnson Space Center for future missions to the ISS, Moon, and beyond.

NASA — 19 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

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