Visual observing – the best targets

Pick location, date and your gear – SkyGrade recommends the currently best targets and rates them with the SkyGrade score (0–100). It weighs weather, the Moon, twilight, light pollution and the object's altitude to suit the chosen instrument.

GPS coordinates as latitude, longitude (decimal degrees) – e.g. 47.07, 15.44
Rates the night of this day – from evening after sunset until the following morning.
Estimated from your location by default – can be set manually if needed
Gear
A larger aperture reaches fainter and smaller objects – that's why the recommended targets change with your equipment.
Target

Enter location, date and gear above to see the best targets of the night.

How does the rating work?

The SkyGrade score (0–100) tells you how well an object can be seen tonight at your location. It combines weather (clouds), the Moon, twilight, light pollution and the object's altitude – suited to the chosen instrument. “Best time” is the moment with the best conditions this night.

Each instrument has a limiting magnitude (naked eye ~ mag 6, binoculars ~ 9.5, telescope ~ 12.5). A smaller mag value means a brighter object. For extended objects the surface brightness also matters – they can look fainter despite a bright total magnitude.

The difficulty is a fixed property of the object: Beginner (mag ≤ 6), Intermediate (mag 6–9), Expert (mag > 9 or low surface brightness).

The Bortle class (light pollution) is estimated automatically from your location. “Naked eye at Bortle X” tells you whether you can see the object without aid – often borderline in the city, good under a dark sky.