SKY · DEEP-SKY · KENYA
Deep-Sky Objects Tonight — Nairobi
Tonight from Nairobi, the best-placed deep-sky showpiece is Sombrero Galaxy (M104), riding about 79° up in the southern sky. Here's the full list of galaxies, nebulae and clusters worth hunting from Nairobi tonight — and how dark a sky each one needs.
The Moon is nearly out of the way — dark skies for faint objects.
Best placed over Nairobi tonight
Ranked by how high each climbs in tonight's dark sky from Nairobi. The higher an object is, the less atmosphere you look through — and the better it shows.
An edge-on galaxy with a dark dust lane like a hat brim — a small-telescope classic. In Virgo.
Home of the famous "Pillars of Creation"; the surrounding cluster is an easy binocular sight. In Serpens.
A dense, rich open cluster shaped like a flight of ducks — lovely in binoculars. In Scutum.
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.
A bright spring globular with half a million stars — a fine binocular and small-scope target. In Canes Venatici.
A bright, sprawling star cluster low in the southern Milky Way — naked-eye from dark skies. In Scorpius.
The finest globular cluster for northern observers — a fuzzy ball of hundreds of thousands of stars. In Hercules.
A tiny, perfect smoke ring — the glowing shell of a dying star; a small-telescope favourite. In Lyra.
A bright planetary nebula, an easy and rewarding binocular and small-scope target. In Vulpecula.
A face-on spiral with a companion — its spiral arms are visible in a modest telescope from a dark site. In Canes Venatici.
A compact, bright autumn globular cluster, easy to find off the Great Square of Pegasus. In Pegasus.
A swarm of stars filling a binocular field; a faint haze to the naked eye under dark skies. In Cancer.
A bright spiral galaxy near the Big Dipper, paired with M82 in the same binocular field. In Ursa Major.
Out of reach from Nairobi tonight
These showpieces are either below Nairobi's horizon during tonight's dark hours, or never rise from this latitude at all — useful to know before you go looking.
Nairobi 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 Nairobitells you whether it's worth the trip out of town.
More sky over Nairobi
SEE IT ON THE MAP
Watch the day/night line over Nairobi to plan your dark-sky window.