SKY · DEEP-SKY · PANAMA
Deep-Sky Objects Tonight — Panama City
Tonight from Panama City, the best-placed deep-sky showpiece is Pegasus Cluster (M15), riding about 87° up in the northern sky. Here's the full list of galaxies, nebulae and clusters worth hunting from Panama City 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 Panama City tonight
Ranked by how high each climbs in tonight's dark sky from Panama City. The higher an object is, the less atmosphere you look through — and the better it shows.
A compact, bright autumn globular cluster, easy to find off the Great Square of Pegasus. In Pegasus.
A bright planetary nebula, an easy and rewarding binocular and small-scope target. In Vulpecula.
A dense, rich open cluster shaped like a flight of ducks — lovely in binoculars. In Scutum.
Home of the famous "Pillars of Creation"; the surrounding cluster is an easy binocular sight. In Serpens.
A tiny, perfect smoke ring — the glowing shell of a dying star; a small-telescope favourite. In Lyra.
A delicate nebula split by dark dust lanes, near the Lagoon in the rich Sagittarius star fields. In Sagittarius.
One of the brightest globular clusters, low in the south for northern observers. In Sagittarius.
A bright nebula in the heart of the Milky Way — superb in binoculars from a dark southern-sky view. In Sagittarius.
The finest globular cluster for northern observers — a fuzzy ball of hundreds of thousands of stars. In Hercules.
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 bright, sprawling star cluster low in the southern Milky Way — naked-eye from dark skies. In Scorpius.
A large, low-surface-brightness spiral — needs a genuinely dark, Moonless sky, then rewarding in binoculars. In Triangulum.
A bright spring globular with half a million stars — a fine binocular and small-scope target. In Canes Venatici.
A face-on spiral with a companion — its spiral arms are visible in a modest telescope from a dark site. In Canes Venatici.
A tight, bright knot of blue stars — obvious to the naked eye, dazzling in binoculars. In Taurus.
An edge-on galaxy with a dark dust lane like a hat brim — a small-telescope classic. In Virgo.
Out of reach from Panama City tonight
These showpieces are either below Panama City's horizon during tonight's dark hours, or never rise from this latitude at all — useful to know before you go looking.
Panama City 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 Panama Citytells you whether it's worth the trip out of town.
More sky over Panama City
SEE IT ON THE MAP
Watch the day/night line over Panama City to plan your dark-sky window.