Mairan's Nebula (M43) Position and Visibility Tonight
Where is Mairan's Nebula right now?
Twilight begins at 18:30 local time, and at that moment, M43 will appear at an altitude of 34 degrees toward the southeast.
M43 Visibility on April 04
M43 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M43 transit | 15:53 | 47° |
| Sunset | 17:31 | 42° |
| Civil sunset | 17:58 | 38° |
| Astrosession begin | 19:02 | 29° |
Moon Rise, 96.3% illuminated  | 19:34 | 23° |
| M43 set | 21:36 | |
| Astrosession end | 03:19 | -57° |
| Moon Set | 05:48 | -48° |
| M43 rise | 10:07 |
Track M43 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 4 April 2026 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M43 - De Mairan's Nebula
M43, also known as De Mairan's Nebula, is a diffuse nebula located in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Jean-Jacques Dortous de Mairan before 1731 and later cataloged by Charles Messier in 1769. M43 is part of the Orion Nebula (M42) complex.
M43 spans about 4 light-years across and contains a bright, young star that illuminates the surrounding gas and dust. The nebula is approximately 1,344 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 9.0, making it visible with a small telescope.
M43 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 M43
| Object name | M43 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M43 coordinates | 5.59205, -5.26747 |
| Center coordinates | 5.59205, -5.26747 |
M43 Passage Through Night
Current position of M43
| Time | 05:23 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M43 elevation | -52° |
| M43 Azimuth | -37° |
Annual motion of M43
M43 will be visible until April, 10, 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, 4 April 2026 |
| Twighlight start | 18:57 |
| Twighlight end | 03:13 |
| Twighlight duration | 8h 17m |
| Rise | 10:07 |
| Set | 21:32 |
| Elevation at transit | 47° |
| Transit time | 15:49 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 05h 35m 31s", Dec: -5° 16' 02s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Orion |
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 M43 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 M43
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 5.59205° |
| Declination | -5.26747° |
| Magnitude | 9.00 |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Elevation | -52.2° |
| Azimuth | -37.4° |
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.