Sky Tonight

OH, US
40°/-83°
GMT -5

🔎

Sky-Tonight.com / Nebulae / M39

M39 Observation Details

M39 Daily Motion

M39 will reach transit at 18:02. By the time twilight starts at 02:08 it will be at an elevation of 12° degrees and will set at 04:43, before twilight ends.
M39 will be visible until February, 5, 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.

M39 Rise and Set Timetable

	Time	Elevation
Sunset	17:10	77°
Civil sunset	17:41	81°
M39 transit	18:02	82°
Astrosession begin	02:08	12°
M39 Set	04:43
Astrosession end	06:21	-1°
M39 Rise	07:16
Sunrise	07:25	0°

Track M39 Position Throughout the Night

Time
Altitude
Azimuth

Shift the map to change the time and observe M39 changing position in the night sky.

M39 - Open Cluster

M39 is an open cluster located in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. The cluster contains a relatively sparse population of stars compared to other open clusters in Messier's catalog.

M39 spans about 7 light-years across and contains around 30 stars. The cluster is approximately 800 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 4.6, making it visible to the naked eye under dark skies and easily seen with binoculars or a small telescope.

M39 Image Gallery

DSS Blue

These images are valuable for highlighting the presence of younger, hotter stars, which emit more light in the blue wavelengths.

DSS Red

These images are excellent for detecting older, cooler stars, as well as emission nebulae, which glow primarily in the red due to hydrogen alpha emissions.

DSS Near-Infrared

M39 photo taken with Near-Infrared filter

These images can penetrate dust clouds that obscure visible light, revealing structures and objects hidden within.

DSS Composite image

DSS Color images are composite images created by combining the blue, red, and often near-infrared images to produce a full-color representation.

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 M39

Double-click to unlock the map.

Object name	M39
Field of view
Limiting magnitude
M39 coordinates	21.53009, 48.43817
Center coordinates	21.53009, 48.43817

M39 Passage Through Night

Double-click to unlock the map.

Current position of M39

Time	02:08
Latitude	39.9625
Longitude	-83.0061
M39 elevation	12°
M39 Azimuth	35°

Here you can see the current position of the M39 on the map, as well as its positions for rise and set. This tool allows you to track the M39's movement throughout the night, providing you with accurate and up-to-date information.

Annual motion of M39

Date	Fri, 22 November 2024
Twighlight start	18:42
Twighlight end	05:44
Twighlight duration	11h 2m
Rise	07:16
Set	04:40
Elevation at transit	82°
Transit time	17:58
Equatorial coordinate	RA: 21h 31m 48s, Dec: 48° 26' 17"
Magnitude	5
Constellation	Cygnus

The graph illustrates the annual visibility pattern of a M39, providing a comprehensive overview of its daily appearances and transit times throughout the year.
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 M39 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.

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.

Observation Settings