What’s Out Tonight?

A general ASTRONOMY site to get you started exploring the night sky

Tablet Home Page

I have optimized this site for desktop and laptop computers. 
The whole website would be very restrictive if I formatted it for smaller platforms—sorry! 
This page should read correctly on tablets but not on phones. Most of you who visit this site are looking for the Monthly Sky Chart which is presented here. You will need that desktop or laptop to access and adequately view all the other site information.
Email me, Ken Graun with any questions.

December 2024 
Free Sky Chart

It’s Free
Just click on the above image to get 
and print this 4-page PDF doc.
Useful anywhere in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere including the continental US, Hawaii, Europe, Japan, etc. Optimized for 1.5 hours after sunset but can be used for several hours after that. Indicates visible planets and best objects for binoculars and telescopes. Packed with facts, mythology, Moon phases, meteor showers and more. For other months, see the archive below.

 December 2024 
Sky Notes
★  About 90 minutes after Sunset ★

MARS will be very close to Earth this January 2025 and thus VERY BRIGHT. Click this sentence for more information.

Planets
Venus is in the west and sets about 3 hours after the Sun—you can't miss it because of its brightness. Saturn is about halfway up in the southwest while Jupiter is halfway up in the east. Saturn’s rings are fairly edge on making it a little disappointing to view in a telescope. Mars, in Gemini rises in the east about 3 hours after the Sun, and is bright, and will rival the star Sirius in brightest during January 2025.

Constellations
Orion is right on the eastern horizon and rising. Its 3 belt stars are vertical as they rise. And, they point down to the star Sirius but it will be a few hours before Sirius rises. Mars rises farther to the south when Sirius rises. Watch the brightness of Mars as it will brighten to the same magnitude as Sirius by mid-January. Sirius is the brightest star in the whole sky and its brightness is mainly due to the fact that it is relatively close to us. About halfway up, due east is the Pleiades—click on its name for more information.

Sky Chart Archives

January 2025
 February 2025
 March 2025
 April 2025
 May 2025
 June 2025

July 2025
 August 2025
 September 2025
 October 2025
 November 2024
 December 2024

December 2024