M30 Observation Details
M30 Daily Motion
M30 will reach transit at 12:53. By the time twilight starts at 16:04 it will be at an elevation of 15° degrees and will set at 17:36, before twilight ends.M30 will be visible until January, 23, 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.
M30 Visibility Timetable on January 04
M30 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M30 transit | 12:53 | 29° |
| Sunset | 15:01 | 22° |
| Moon Rise, 99.3% illuminated | 15:28 | 19° |
| Civil sunset | 15:31 | 19° |
| Astrosession begin | 16:35 | 10° |
| M30 set | 17:36 | |
| Astrosession end | 03:49 | -49° |
| Moon Set | 06:45 | -15° |
| M30 rise | 08:07 |
Track M30 Position Throughout the Night
← Sun, 4 January 2026 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
Where is M30 right now?
M30 is located in the constellation Capricornus, at right ascension 21h 40m 22s" and declination -23° 10' 44s. At the current time, it is below the horizon and not visible from your location.M30 - Globular Cluster
M30 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Capricornus. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. This cluster is known for its collapsed core and high concentration of stars.
M30 spans about 93 light-years across and contains tens of thousands of stars. The cluster is approximately 27,100 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 7.2, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M30 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 M30
| Object name | M30 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M30 coordinates | 21.67278, -23.17908 |
| Center coordinates | 21.67278, -23.17908 |
M30 Passage Through Night
Current position of M30
| Time | 05:51 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M30 elevation | -26° |
| M30 Azimuth | -100° |
Annual motion of M30
| Date | Sun, 4 January 2026 |
| Twighlight start | 16:31 |
| Twighlight end | 03:43 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 12m |
| Rise | 08:07 |
| Set | 17:32 |
| Elevation at transit | 29° |
| Transit time | 12:49 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 21h 40m 22s", Dec: -23° 10' 44s |
| Magnitude | 7 |
| Constellation | Capricornus |
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 M30 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 M30
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 21.67278° |
| Declination | -23.17908° |
| Magnitude | 7.10 |
| Constellation | Capricornus |
| Elevation | -26.1° |
| Azimuth | -100.2° |
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.