Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (M24) Observation Details
M24 Daily Motion
M24 will not be observable tonight. It will reach its transit at 34° by 09:27 and set at 14:27. Throughout the night, from 16:05 to 04:21, it will be below the horizon. M24 will rise again after sunrise, at 04:23.M24 will become visible in March, 13. After being too close to the Sun to observe, it will reappear in the night sky. Starting from March, 13, M24 can be seen again, providing a good opportunity for observation.
M24 Visibility Timetable on January 05
M24 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M24 transit | 09:27 | 34° |
| M24 set | 14:27 | |
| Astrosession begin | 16:36 | -25° |
| Moon Rise, 96% illuminated | 16:44 | -27° |
| Astrosession end | 03:49 | -6° |
| M24 rise | 04:23 | |
| Civil sunrise | 04:53 | 5° |
| Sunrise | 05:23 | 11° |
| Moon Set | 07:21 | 27° |
Track M24 Position Throughout the Night
← Mon, 5 January 2026 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
Where is Small Sagittarius Star Cloud right now?
Small Sagittarius Star Cloud (M24) is located in the constellation Sagittarius, at right ascension 18h 16m 56s" and declination -18° 30' 52s. Although it is currently above the horizon at an altitude of 26 degrees, M24 is not visible because it is daytime.M24 - Sagittarius Star Cloud
The Sagittarius Star Cloud (M24) is a dense region of the Milky Way galaxy located in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. The star cloud is an area rich in stars, clusters, and nebulae, providing a spectacular view in small telescopes or binoculars.
M24 spans about 600 light-years across and contains thousands of stars. The star cloud is approximately 10,000 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 4.6, making it visible to the naked eye.
M24 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 M24
| Object name | M24 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M24 coordinates | 18.28226, -18.51456 |
| Center coordinates | 18.28226, -18.51456 |
M24 Passage Through Night
Current position of M24
| Time | 07:13 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M24 elevation | 26° |
| M24 Azimuth | -144° |
Annual motion of M24
| Date | Mon, 5 January 2026 |
| Twighlight start | 16:32 |
| Twighlight end | 03:43 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 11m |
| Rise | 04:23 |
| Set | 14:23 |
| Elevation at transit | 34° |
| Transit time | 09:23 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 18h 16m 56s", Dec: -18° 30' 52s |
| Magnitude | 5 |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
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 M24 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.
Astrometric & Physical Parameters of M24
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 18.28226° |
| Declination | -18.51456° |
| Magnitude | 4.50 |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Elevation | 25.8° |
| Azimuth | -144.3° |
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.