M106 Position and Visibility Tonight
Where is M106 right now?
Twilight begins at 19:15 local time, and at that moment, M106 will appear at an altitude of 78 degrees toward the northwest.
M106 Visibility on May 16
M106 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
Moon Rise, 5.1% illuminated  | 02:46 | 19° |
| Moon Set | 17:23 | 61° |
| Sunset | 18:08 | 69° |
| Civil sunset | 18:39 | 73° |
| Twighlight start | 19:15 | 78° |
| M106 transit | 19:51 | 80° |
| Astrosession begin | 19:54 | 80° |
| Astrosession end | 02:13 | 23° |
| Twighlight end | 02:52 | 17° |
| Civil sunrise | 03:28 | 13° |
| Sunrise | 03:59 | 9° |
| M106 set | 05:32 | |
| M106 rise | 10:05 |
Track M106 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 16 May 2026 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M106 - Spiral Galaxy
M106 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M106 is known for its bright core and well-defined spiral arms.
M106 spans about 135,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 25 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.4, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M106 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M106
| Object name | M106 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M106 coordinates | 12.31597, 47.30397 |
| Center coordinates | 12.31597, 47.30397 |
M106 Passage Through Night
Current position of M106
| Time | 05:24 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M106 elevation | 1° |
| M106 Azimuth | 24° |
Annual motion of M106
M106 will be visible until August, 27, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
| Date | Sat, 16 May 2026 |
| Twighlight start | 19:49 |
| Twighlight end | 02:08 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 19m |
| Rise | 10:09 |
| Set | 05:32 |
| Elevation at transit | 80° |
| Transit time | 19:51 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 12h 18m 57s", Dec: 47° 18' 14s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M106 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
You can also view detailed visibility information in a dedicated table, including exact rise, transit, and set times for each date.
Astrometric & Physical Parameters of M106
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 12.31597° |
| Declination | 47.30397° |
| Magnitude | 9.29 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
| Elevation | 0.9° |
| Azimuth | 24.2° |
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.