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Deep-Sky Objects Tonight — Mauna Kea
Tonight from Mauna Kea, the best-placed deep-sky showpiece is Dumbbell Nebula (M27), riding about 87° up in the northern sky. Here's the full list of galaxies, nebulae and clusters worth hunting from Mauna Kea tonight — and how dark a sky each one needs.
A modest Moon — bright planets and constellations are fine, faint detail less so.
Best placed over Mauna Kea tonight
Ranked by how high each climbs in tonight's dark sky from Mauna Kea. The higher an object is, the less atmosphere you look through — and the better it shows.
A bright planetary nebula, an easy and rewarding binocular and small-scope target. In Vulpecula.
A compact, bright autumn globular cluster, easy to find off the Great Square of Pegasus. In Pegasus.
A tiny, perfect smoke ring — the glowing shell of a dying star; a small-telescope favourite. In Lyra.
The finest globular cluster for northern observers — a fuzzy ball of hundreds of thousands of stars. In Hercules.
A bright spring globular with half a million stars — a fine binocular and small-scope target. In Canes Venatici.
A dense, rich open cluster shaped like a flight of ducks — lovely in binoculars. In Scutum.
A face-on spiral with a companion — its spiral arms are visible in a modest telescope from a dark site. In Canes Venatici.
Home of the famous "Pillars of Creation"; the surrounding cluster is an easy binocular sight. In Serpens.
The nearest big galaxy — a faint elongated smudge to the naked eye from a dark sky, the most distant thing most people ever see unaided. In Andromeda.
A delicate nebula split by dark dust lanes, near the Lagoon in the rich Sagittarius star fields. In Sagittarius.
A bright nebula in the heart of the Milky Way — superb in binoculars from a dark southern-sky view. In Sagittarius.
One of the brightest globular clusters, low in the south for northern observers. In Sagittarius.
An edge-on galaxy with a dark dust lane like a hat brim — a small-telescope classic. In Virgo.
A large, low-surface-brightness spiral — needs a genuinely dark, Moonless sky, then rewarding in binoculars. In Triangulum.
A bright, sprawling star cluster low in the southern Milky Way — naked-eye from dark skies. In Scorpius.
A bright spiral galaxy near the Big Dipper, paired with M82 in the same binocular field. In Ursa Major.
A tight, bright knot of blue stars — obvious to the naked eye, dazzling in binoculars. In Taurus.
A swarm of stars filling a binocular field; a faint haze to the naked eye under dark skies. In Cancer.
Out of reach from Mauna Kea tonight
These showpieces are either below Mauna Kea's horizon during tonight's dark hours, or never rise from this latitude at all — useful to know before you go looking.
Mauna Kea right now
Faint galaxies and nebulae need a genuinely dark, cloudless, Moonless sky — a quick check of tonight's cloud cover and the stargazing verdict for Mauna Keatells you whether it's worth the trip out of town.
More sky over Mauna Kea
SEE IT ON THE MAP
Watch the day/night line over Mauna Kea to plan your dark-sky window.