M53 Observation Details
M53 Daily Motion
M53 will not be observable tonight. It will reach its transit at 71° by 12:36 and set at 19:33. Throughout the night, from 00:16 to 03:55, it will be below the horizon. M53 will rise again after sunrise, at 05:35.M53 will become visible in November, 9. After being too close to the Sun to observe, it will reappear in the night sky. Starting from November, 9, M53 can be seen again, providing a good opportunity for observation.
M53 Visibility Timetable on September 17
M53 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Moon Rise, 29.5% illuminated | 23:16 | -31° |
| M53 transit | 12:36 | 71° |
| Moon Set | 14:45 | 56° |
| Sunset | 17:12 | 27° |
| Civil sunset | 17:39 | 22° |
| Astrosession begin | 18:41 | 10° |
| M53 set | 19:33 | |
| Astrosession end | 03:23 | -22° |
| M53 rise | 05:35 |
Track M53 Position Throughout the Night
← Wed, 17 September 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
Where is M53 right now?
M53 is located in the constellation Coma Berenices, at right ascension 13h 12m 55s" and declination 18° 10' 08s. At the current time, it is below the horizon and not visible from your location.M53 - Globular Cluster
M53 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1775 and independently by Charles Messier in 1777. The cluster contains a rich population of old stars.
M53 spans about 220 light-years across and contains around 500,000 stars. The cluster is approximately 58,000 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 7.6, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M53 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 M53
| Object name | M53 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M53 coordinates | 13.21534, 18.16911 |
| Center coordinates | 13.21534, 18.16911 |
M53 Passage Through Night
Current position of M53
| Time | 00:16 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M53 elevation | -34° |
| M53 Azimuth | 5° |
Annual motion of M53
| Date | Thu, 18 September 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 18:35 |
| Twighlight end | 03:18 |
| Twighlight duration | 9h 43m |
| Rise | 05:35 |
| Set | 19:29 |
| Elevation at transit | 71° |
| Transit time | 12:32 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 13h 12m 55s", Dec: 18° 10' 08s |
| Magnitude | 8 |
| Constellation | Coma Berenices |
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 M53 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 M53
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 13.21534° |
| Declination | 18.16911° |
| Magnitude | 7.79 |
| Constellation | Coma Berenices |
| Elevation | -34.3° |
| Azimuth | 5.2° |
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.