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: 2023-12-02 21:00:00, 27° 56' 1" S 153° 17' 34" E (Gold Coast, Australia)

ObjectTwilight StartsSunriseDirectionSunsetDirectionTwilight Ends
Sun 03:0904:43115.4°
(southeast)
18:30244.5°
(southwest)
20:02

ObjectRiseDirectionSetDirectionAgeLuminosity
Moon 22:5164.5°
(northeast)
09:34
(2023-12-03)
293.5°
(northwest)
20 days
(waning)
75.66% 75.66%

ObjectRADECAzimuthAltitude
Jupiter 2h 18.7m 12° 26.7'8.02°
(north)
49.29°
Saturn 22h 14.2m-12° 43.7'274.41°
(west)
36.00°
Uranus 3h 10.5m 17° 26.0'23.51°
(northeast)
41.29°
Neptune 23h 42.0m -3° 18.9'301.26°
(northwest)
49.45°
Pluto 20h 3.6m-23° 12.6'249.89°
(west)
11.93°

Deep Sky Objects

TypeObjectConstellationMagnitudeRADecAzimuthAltitude
GalaxyLg Magellanic Cl
(aka ESO 056-G115)
Dorado0.4 5h 23.6m-69° 45.0'159.57°
(south)
39.02°
GalaxyNGC 598
(aka M 33)
Triangulum5.7 1h 33.9m 30° 39.0'354.12°
(north)
31.15°
GalaxyNGC 292
(aka Small Magellanc Cl)
Tucana2.3 0h 52.6m-72° 48.0'186.61°
(south)
44.30°
Open ClusterNGC 1662
(aka OCL 470)
Orion6.4 4h 48.4m 10° 57.0'52.83°
(northeast)
33.21°
Open ClusterNGC 1981
(aka OCL 525)
Orion4.2 5h 35.2m -4° 26.0'75.95°
(east)
33.23°
Open ClusterCr 70 Orion0.4 5h 36.0m -1° 0.0'72.61°
(east)
31.26°
Open ClusterBlanco 1 Sculptor4.5 0h 4.3m-29° 56.0'258.53°
(west)
65.25°
Open ClusterMel 25
(aka Hyades)
Taurus0.5 4h 27.0m 16° 0.0'44.18°
(northeast)
33.05°
Planetary NebulaNGC 7293
(aka PK 36-57.1)
Aquarius6.3 22h 29.6m-20° 50.0'266.56°
(west)
42.52°
Globular ClusterNGC 104
(aka 47 Tucanae)
Tucana4 0h 24.1m-72° 5.0'189.75°
(south)
44.06°
Cluster with NebulosityNGC 1976
(aka M 42)
Orion4 5h 35.3m -5° 23.0'76.94°
(east)
33.69°
Cluster with NebulosityNGC 1980
(aka OCL 529)
Orion2.5 5h 35.4m -5° 55.0'77.51°
(east)
33.94°
Cluster with NebulosityMel 22
(aka M 45)
Taurus1.2 3h 47.0m 24° 7.0'29.58°
(northeast)
31.63°

Constellations

ConstellationRADecAzimuthAltitude
Aquarius 23h 0.0m-15° 0.0'278.01°
(west)
47°
Aries 3h 0.0m 20° 0.0'19.27°
(north)
40°
Caelum 5h 0.0m-40° 0.0'120.06°
(southeast)
51°
Cetus 2h 0.0m -8° 0.0'1.95°
(north)
70°
Columba 6h 0.0m-35° 0.0'114.06°
(southeast)
39°
Dorado 5h 0.0m-65° 0.0'155.47°
(southeast)
43°
Eridanus 3h 15.0m-29° 0.0'98.20°
(east)
73°
Fornax 3h 0.0m-30° 0.0'102.33°
(east)
76°
Grus 22h 0.0m-47° 0.0'230.52°
(southwest)
41°
Horologium 3h 0.0m-60° 0.0'165.95°
(south)
56°
Hydrus 2h 0.0m-70° 0.0'179.66°
(south)
48°
Indus 21h 0.0m-55° 0.0'220.30°
(southwest)
31°
Lepus 6h 0.0m-20° 0.0'96.03°
(east)
35°
Mensa 5h 30.0m-80° 0.0'170.39°
(south)
34°
Octans 22h 0.0m-85° 0.0'184.99°
(south)
30°
Orion 5h 0.0m 5° 0.0'60.51°
(northeast)
35°
Phoenix 0h 0.0m-50° 0.0'217.23°
(southwest)
59°
Pictor 5h 0.0m-50° 0.0'135.41°
(southeast)
49°
Pisces 1h 0.0m 15° 0.0'340.29°
(north)
45°
Piscis Austrinus 22h 0.0m-30° 0.0'252.50°
(west)
39°
Reticulum 4h 0.0m-60° 0.0'155.65°
(southeast)
52°
Sculptor 0h 0.0m-30° 0.0'258.27°
(west)
64°
Taurus 4h 0.0m 15° 0.0'38.57°
(northeast)
38°
Triangulum 2h 0.0m 30° 0.0'0.69°
(north)
32°
Tucana 0h 0.0m-65° 0.0'198.24°
(south)
49°

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