SKY · DEEP-SKY · PUERTO RICO
Deep-Sky Objects Tonight — San Juan
Tonight from San Juan, the best-placed deep-sky showpiece is Pegasus Cluster (M15), riding about 84° up in the southern sky. Here's the full list of galaxies, nebulae and clusters worth hunting from San Juan 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 San Juan tonight
Ranked by how high each climbs in tonight's dark sky from San Juan. 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 tiny, perfect smoke ring — the glowing shell of a dying star; a small-telescope favourite. In Lyra.
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 dense, rich open cluster shaped like a flight of ducks — lovely in binoculars. In Scutum.
A large, low-surface-brightness spiral — needs a genuinely dark, Moonless sky, then rewarding in binoculars. In Triangulum.
Home of the famous "Pillars of Creation"; the surrounding cluster is an easy binocular sight. In Serpens.
One of the brightest globular clusters, low in the south for northern observers. In Sagittarius.
The finest globular cluster for northern observers — a fuzzy ball of hundreds of thousands of stars. In Hercules.
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.
A bright, sprawling star cluster low in the southern Milky Way — naked-eye from dark skies. In Scorpius.
A tight, bright knot of blue stars — obvious to the naked eye, dazzling in binoculars. In Taurus.
A face-on spiral with a companion — its spiral arms are visible in a modest telescope from a dark site. In Canes Venatici.
Out of reach from San Juan tonight
These showpieces are either below San Juan's horizon during tonight's dark hours, or never rise from this latitude at all — useful to know before you go looking.
San Juan 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 San Juantells you whether it's worth the trip out of town.
More sky over San Juan
SEE IT ON THE MAP
Watch the day/night line over San Juan to plan your dark-sky window.