M54 Position and Visibility Tonight
Where is M54 right now?
Twilight begins at 19:42 local time, and at that moment, M54 will appear at an altitude of 4 degrees toward the southwest.
M54 Visibility on July 01
M54 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M54 rise | 19:12 | |
Moon Rise, 99% illuminated  | 19:32 | 3° |
| Twighlight start | 19:42 | 4° |
| Astrosession begin | 20:25 | 10° |
| M54 transit | 23:25 | 22° |
| Astrosession end | 01:58 | 13° |
| Twighlight end | 02:41 | 8° |
| Civil sunrise | 03:20 | 3° |
| M54 set | 03:37 | |
| Moon Set | 05:11 | -16° |
Track M54 Position Throughout the Night
← Wed, 1 July 2026 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M54 - Globular Cluster
M54 is a globular cluster located in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1778. The cluster contains a rich population of old stars and is one of the most massive globular clusters known.
M54 spans about 150 light-years across and contains around 1 million stars. The cluster is approximately 87,000 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 7.6, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M54 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 M54
| Object name | M54 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M54 coordinates | 18.91758, -30.4785 |
| Center coordinates | 18.91758, -30.4785 |
M54 Passage Through Night
Current position of M54
| Time | 10:56 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M54 elevation | -81° |
| M54 Azimuth | 45° |
Annual motion of M54
M54 will be visible until December, 11, 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 | Wed, 1 July 2026 |
| Twighlight start | 20:20 |
| Twighlight end | 01:52 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 31m |
| Rise | 19:12 |
| Set | 03:37 |
| Elevation at transit | 22° |
| Transit time | 23:25 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 18h 55m 03s", Dec: -30° 28' 42s |
| Magnitude | 8 |
| 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 M54 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 M54
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 18.91758° |
| Declination | -30.4785° |
| Magnitude | 7.70 |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Elevation | -80.7° |
| Azimuth | 44.7° |
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.