Welcome to CreatioNova NightWatch!

This site was originally written to provide a means for myself to easily identify what objects are visible in the sky on any given night of the year. Now I've opened it up to all astronomers and curious minds alike.

The way it works is simple: choose a local date/time, choose your timezone, enter in your geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) then the site does the rest.
You can also sign up to a service which will automatically email you (eg every night, every week, etc) so that you're always informed of what's coming up without having to check back.
At some stage soon, hopefully we'll even go so far as to make a guess as to how the local weather will impact the quality if your star gazing and factor that into the NightWatch report!


Example report for tonight
This report calculates the sun and moon activity, and also locates constellations and deep space objects from the SAC verison 8 catalog. For observational quality it limits the constellation and DSO results to those within 60° of the local zenith, and only DSOs with a magnitude of 6.5 or better (visible to the naked eye on a good clear dark night).

Using default time and location: 2023-10-03 21:00:00, 27° 56' 1" S 153° 17' 34" E (Gold Coast, Australia)

ObjectTwilight StartsSunriseDirectionSunsetDirectionTwilight Ends
Sun 04:0305:2494.6°
(east)
17:48265.1°
(west)
19:08

ObjectRiseDirectionSetDirectionAgeLuminosity
Moon 21:5962.4°
(northeast)
08:27
(2023-10-04)
299.3°
(northwest)
19 days
(waning)
80.46% 80.46%

ObjectRADECAzimuthAltitude
Jupiter 2h 47.2m 14° 38.3'68.25°
(east)
8.71°
Saturn 22h 14.9m-12° 46.2'13.00°
(north)
74.48°
Uranus 3h 19.8m 18° 1.4'69.35°
(east)
0.26°
Neptune 23h 45.7m -2° 56.4'49.71°
(northeast)
54.63°
Pluto 20h 0.9m-23° 19.7'272.84°
(west)
62.66°

Deep Sky Objects

TypeObjectConstellationMagnitudeRADecAzimuthAltitude
GalaxyNGC 292
(aka Small Magellanc Cl)
Tucana2.3 0h 52.6m-72° 48.0'164.82°
(south)
39.69°
Open ClusterMel 227
(aka Cr 411)
Octans5.3 20h 15.3m-79° 17.0'185.97°
(south)
37.41°
Open ClusterBlanco 1 Sculptor4.5 0h 4.3m-29° 56.0'101.74°
(east)
62.98°
Open ClusterNGC 6322
(aka OCL 1000)
Scorpius6 17h 18.4m-42° 56.0'234.76°
(southwest)
32.28°
Open ClusterNGC 6383
(aka NGC 6374)
Scorpius5.5 17h 34.7m-32° 35.0'247.60°
(west)
33.30°
Open ClusterNGC 6405
(aka M 6)
Scorpius4.2 17h 40.3m-32° 15.0'248.34°
(west)
34.36°
Open ClusterNGC 6416
(aka OCL 1031)
Scorpius5.7 17h 44.3m-32° 22.0'248.44°
(west)
35.21°
Open ClusterNGC 6475
(aka M 7)
Scorpius3.3 17h 53.9m-34° 48.0'246.00°
(southwest)
37.67°
Open ClusterNGC 6705
(aka M 11)
Scutum5.8 18h 51.1m -6° 16.0'286.64°
(west)
40.20°
Open ClusterNGC 6605
(aka OCL 47)
Serpens6 18h 18.4m-14° 57.0'272.00°
(west)
37.10°
Open ClusterIC 4756
(aka Cr 386)
Serpens4.6 18h 39.0m 5° 27.0'296.40°
(northwest)
31.04°
Open ClusterNGC 6494
(aka M 23)
Sagittarius5.5 17h 57.1m-18° 59.0'265.02°
(west)
33.95°
Open ClusterNGC 6531
(aka M 21)
Sagittarius5.9 18h 4.2m-22° 29.0'261.69°
(west)
36.72°
Open ClusterNGC 6530
(aka OCL 19)
Sagittarius4.6 18h 4.5m-24° 21.0'259.50°
(west)
37.37°
Open ClusterCr 367 Sagittarius6.4 18h 9.8m-23° 50.0'260.58°
(west)
38.36°
Open ClusterIC 4715
(aka M 24)
Sagittarius3.1 18h 17.3m-18° 40.0'267.54°
(west)
38.29°
Open ClusterIC 4725
(aka M 25)
Sagittarius4.6 18h 31.8m-19° 7.0'268.60°
(west)
41.65°
Open ClusterCr 394 Sagittarius6.3 18h 52.3m-20° 12.0'269.51°
(west)
46.55°
Open ClusterNGC 6940
(aka OCL 141)
Vulpecula6.3 20h 34.4m 28° 17.0'338.01°
(north)
30.10°
Planetary NebulaNGC 7293
(aka PK 36-57.1)
Aquarius6.3 22h 29.6m-20° 50.0'44.32°
(northeast)
80.33°
Globular ClusterNGC 6397
(aka Lac III-11)
Ara5.3 17h 40.7m-53° 40.0'222.09°
(southwest)
36.76°
Globular ClusterNGC 6541
(aka Dunlop 473)
Corona Australis6.3 18h 8.0m-43° 42.0'234.90°
(southwest)
41.33°
Globular ClusterNGC 6752
(aka Dunlop 295)
Pavo5.4 19h 10.9m-59° 59.0'209.70°
(southwest)
47.03°
Globular ClusterNGC 7078
(aka M 15)
Pegasus6.4 21h 30.0m 12° 10.0'348.45°
(north)
49.21°
Globular ClusterNGC 6656
(aka M 22)
Sagittarius5.2 18h 36.4m-23° 54.0'262.87°
(west)
44.20°
Globular ClusterNGC 6809
(aka M 55)
Sagittarius6.3 19h 40.0m-30° 58.0'255.66°
(west)
59.33°
Globular ClusterNGC 104
(aka 47 Tucanae)
Tucana4 0h 24.1m-72° 5.0'166.03°
(south)
41.76°
Cluster with NebulosityNGC 6611
(aka M 16)
Serpens6 18h 18.8m-13° 47.0'273.38°
(west)
36.71°
Cluster with NebulosityNGC 6514
(aka M 20)
Sagittarius6.3 18h 2.7m-22° 58.0'260.98°
(west)
36.55°
Cluster with NebulosityNGC 6523
(aka M 8)
Sagittarius5 18h 3.7m-24° 23.0'259.39°
(west)
37.20°
Cluster with NebulosityNGC 6618
(aka M 17)
Sagittarius6 18h 20.8m-16° 11.0'270.87°
(west)
38.12°

Constellations

ConstellationRADecAzimuthAltitude
Aquarius 23h 0.0m-15° 0.0'49.78°
(northeast)
71°
Aquila 20h 0.0m 5° 0.0'313.80°
(northwest)
46°
Ara 17h 39.0m-53° 0.0'222.93°
(southwest)
37°
Capricornus 21h 0.0m-20° 0.0'296.48°
(northwest)
74°
Cetus 2h 0.0m -8° 0.0'82.66°
(east)
30°
Corona Australis 19h 0.0m-40° 0.0'239.90°
(southwest)
51°
Delphinus 21h 0.0m 14° 0.0'338.71°
(north)
46°
Equuleus 21h 0.0m 10° 0.0'336.68°
(northwest)
49°
Grus 22h 0.0m-47° 0.0'180.39°
(south)
71°
Horologium 3h 0.0m-60° 0.0'145.56°
(southeast)
31°
Hydrus 2h 0.0m-70° 0.0'158.48°
(south)
36°
Indus 21h 0.0m-55° 0.0'197.93°
(south)
61°
Microscopium 21h 0.0m-36° 0.0'234.08°
(southwest)
75°
Octans 22h 0.0m-85° 0.0'180.02°
(south)
33°
Pavo 20h 0.0m-65° 0.0'198.65°
(south)
48°
Pegasus 23h 0.0m 20° 0.0'18.27°
(north)
40°
Phoenix 0h 0.0m-50° 0.0'142.44°
(southeast)
58°
Piscis Austrinus 22h 0.0m-30° 0.0'184.53°
(south)
88°
Sagitta 19h 45.0m 19° 0.0'321.14°
(northwest)
33°
Sagittarius 19h 0.0m-25° 0.0'263.42°
(west)
50°
Sculptor 0h 0.0m-30° 0.0'101.77°
(east)
64°
Scutum 18h 45.0m-10° 0.0'281.39°
(west)
41°
Telescopium 19h 0.0m-50° 0.0'224.47°
(southwest)
49°
Tucana 0h 0.0m-65° 0.0'161.53°
(south)
48°

Light Pollution Report - from GlobeAtNight.org

DateDistance from locationNaked-eye Mag.Cloud coverSky CommentsLocation Comments
6/03/201135.41km3over 1/2 of skyaltostratus cloud cover, traveling northwest, sky glow further east. Brock Bell (B.B.)suburban, a few house lights mostly from windows, quite a few trees,
22/03/201157.92km4clear
22/03/201132.83km4clear
23/03/201146.74km5clearFairly clear sky. Minor sky glow from north west (due to Gateway motorway and Brisbane city). Eyes were not yet dark-adjusted, having just come outside from indoor lighting.Suburban. A few nearby lights from houses, etc. 3/4 moon rising in east (approx 10-15 degrees). Trees to north.
23/03/201146.74km5clearMinor sky glow from north west (due to nearby Gateway motorway and Brisbane city).Suburban. Some lights from nearby houses. Trees to north. 3/4 moon rising in east (approx. 10-15 degrees up). Eyes were not yet dark adjusted, having just come out from indoor lighting.
26/03/20110.03km6clearA couple of broken clouds rolling in from south-southeast. Main light glow from GC CBD towards southeast.Park Lake estate. Approx 13km from CBD. Some streetlights and building lights. Hills to south, west and north; observing from valley.
2/04/201121.67km41/4 of skyjust had storm come through and cleared up enough for good viewing still clouds in the west.suburban area. View from backyard. Little bit of light pollution.
3/04/201153.71km4clearSky glow from state capital city (Brisbane) north northeastUrban
4/04/201121.67km41/2 of skyclouds come in and out
3/11/201052.50km31/4 of sky
03/15/1059.36km41/2 of skyI would say it was Mag 4.5 because there were stars visible that Mag 4 but less than 5.Fortitude Valley, Brisbane QLD
29-Mar-0956.72km51/2 of skyPassing rain clouds eventually brought rain. Not the clearest of nights due to scattered showers in the region. Earth Hour appeared to be of negligible benefit here.Reasonably dark park, during "Earth Hour". Not too much direct glare due to trees around the park.
23-Mar-0956.79km5clearPretty clear sky for this time of the evening, only minimal haze tonight. No sighted clouds.Suburban area near top of a hill in a quiet street. Street lamps generally present the main issues with general observing, but there are (late) nights here where Crux and co. are quite 'milky' when conditions are quite cool and stable. So overall, while the location is not as ideal as a local park it is not too bad because there aren't many other places (walking) nearby that offer a better view.
27-Mar-0921.62km3clearSuburban near ocean
25-Mar-0910.18km4clear
3/01/2008 2044.12km5clearStreet lights and walkway lights within 100 metres, hidden from view
3/02/2008 2044.12km5over 1/2 of skyFull cloud cover 30 mins later S&T.com
3/02/2008 2159.06km51/4 of sky
3/04/2008 2044.12km5clear S&T.com
3/05/2008 2044.12km-9999over 1/2 of skyTotal cloud and pouring rain S&T.com
3/06/2008 2144.12km5clear S&T.com
3/07/2008 2144.12km5clear S&T.com
3/08/2008 2144.12km5clear S&T.com