Prepare an observation
Before the night
What is up there, and when
This page does not tell you whether the weather is good: it tells you what is up, at what time, and for how long. For the state of the sky right now, see Live.
Pick a site: everything below concerns that site alone. The two are a hundred and thirty kilometres apart, which changes the sky little and the horizon a great deal.
The sky map
Drag to look around. The map follows the clock and shows the whole sky visible from here, horizon included, so it does not zoom. To frame a target in an instrument, see “What your target would look like”, further down this page.
What to look at tonight
The objects below are those that rise above 30° while the sky is in full darkness, longest window first. Neither condition is enough on its own: a target high in broad daylight cannot be observed, and neither can a dark sky over a target that has set.
If you already know what you are after, name it: a Messier number, M31 for instance, or a right ascension and a declination in degrees.
M74 24.1741° / +15.7835° Toulouse dome night of 11 November 2026
TargetThe Moon, when it is up
Back to tonight’s best targets
Through the year
How long this target stays above the threshold in full darkness, every fortnight from tonight.
Best around 22 October, with 8h 30m of full darkness above the threshold.
Observable for 8h 05m tonight, above 30° in full darkness.
- Usable window19:15 to 03:208h 05m
- Highest62°at 23:05, airmass 1.13
- Moon, at that moment129°below the horizon
What each instrument frames
Whether a target fits in the frame depends on the optical train, not on the telescope alone. The table below gives how finely each one samples the sky; the chart under it draws what each one frames, on the real sky and around the target you chose. Both come from the focal length and the sensor, held in the inventory.
| Optical train | Sampling |
|---|---|
| A13L13 and ASI6200MM | 0.85″/px |
| T51 photometryCDK20 and C4-16000 | 0.54″/px |
| T51 spectroscopyCDK20 and Atik 460EX | 0.27″/px |
| T28scASI290MM | 0.21″/px |
| Covers 7′ while the Sun spans 32′: it cannot take the whole disc in one frame. | |
| T51 planetaryASI462MC | 0.17″/px |
What your target would look like
The table above answers « which instrument covers what », and that question has no target. This chart answers the other one: on this object, what does it give. It shows the real sky, photographed, with the field of the chosen configuration drawn on it, to scale and at the angle you set.
It appears once you have named a target above. Its images come from the Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg, so nothing loads before you agree, as with the videos and the maps elsewhere on this site.
This chart shows the real sky around M74, with the instrument field drawn on it. Its images come from the Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg: opening it sends your address there.
Sky images: Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (Aladin Lite, DSS2).
The forecast from meteoblue
These two panels come from meteoblue, not from us. They bring what we cannot yet measure: the seeing, in arc seconds. Nothing loads before you agree, as with the videos and the maps elsewhere on this site.
Seeing in arc seconds, hour by hour, with cloud and humidity. Best values are marked.
Forecast by meteoblue, embedded from their site. Nothing loads before you agree.
General weather over the coming days, three hours at a time.
Forecast by meteoblue, embedded from their site. Nothing loads before you agree.
The sky map
Drag to look around. The map follows the clock and shows the whole sky visible from here, horizon included, so it does not zoom. To frame a target in an instrument, see “What your target would look like”, further down this page.
What to look at tonight
The objects below are those that rise above 30° while the sky is in full darkness, longest window first. Neither condition is enough on its own: a target high in broad daylight cannot be observed, and neither can a dark sky over a target that has set.
If you already know what you are after, name it: a Messier number, M31 for instance, or a right ascension and a declination in degrees.
M74 24.1741° / +15.7835° Pic du Midi night of 11 November 2026
TargetThe Moon, when it is up
Back to tonight’s best targets
Through the year
How long this target stays above the threshold in full darkness, every fortnight from tonight.
Best around 6 November, with 8h 30m of full darkness above the threshold.
Observable for 8h 10m tonight, above 30° in full darkness.
- Usable window19:20 to 03:308h 10m
- Highest63°at 23:10, airmass 1.12
- Moon, at that moment129°below the horizon
What each instrument frames
Whether a target fits in the frame depends on the optical train, not on the telescope alone. The table below gives how finely each one samples the sky; the chart under it draws what each one frames, on the real sky and around the target you chose. Both come from the focal length and the sensor, held in the inventory.
| Optical train | Sampling |
|---|---|
| T28raRASA and ZEUS 455 | 1.25″/px |
What your target would look like
The table above answers « which instrument covers what », and that question has no target. This chart answers the other one: on this object, what does it give. It shows the real sky, photographed, with the field of the chosen configuration drawn on it, to scale and at the angle you set.
It appears once you have named a target above. Its images come from the Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg, so nothing loads before you agree, as with the videos and the maps elsewhere on this site.
This chart shows the real sky around M74, with the instrument field drawn on it. Its images come from the Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg: opening it sends your address there.
Sky images: Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (Aladin Lite, DSS2).
The forecast from meteoblue
These two panels come from meteoblue, not from us. They bring what we cannot yet measure: the seeing, in arc seconds. Nothing loads before you agree, as with the videos and the maps elsewhere on this site.
Seeing in arc seconds, hour by hour, with cloud and humidity. Best values are marked.
Forecast by meteoblue, embedded from their site. Nothing loads before you agree.
General weather over the coming days, three hours at a time.
Forecast by meteoblue, embedded from their site. Nothing loads before you agree.
