M78 Position and Visibility Tonight
Where is M78 right now?
Twilight begins at 18:53 local time, and at that moment, M78 will appear at an altitude of 48 degrees toward the southeast.
M78 Visibility on March 14
M78 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
Moon Rise, 35.1% illuminated  | 02:24 | -33° |
| M78 rise | 11:28 | |
| Moon Set | 11:46 | 4° |
| Sunset | 17:12 | 53° |
| M78 transit | 17:27 | 53° |
| Civil sunset | 17:39 | 53° |
| Astrosession begin | 18:40 | 49° |
| M78 set | 23:26 | |
| Astrosession end | 03:53 | -47° |
Track M78 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 14 March 2026 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M78 - Reflection Nebula
M78 is a reflection nebula located in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M78 is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex and is one of the brightest reflection nebulae in the sky.
M78 spans about 5 light-years across and contains several young stars that illuminate the surrounding dust. The nebula is approximately 1,600 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.3, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M78 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 M78
| Object name | M78 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M78 coordinates | 5.77939, 0.07931 |
| Center coordinates | 5.77939, 0.07931 |
M78 Passage Through Night
Current position of M78
| Time | 18:53 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M78 elevation | 48° |
| M78 Azimuth | 147° |
Annual motion of M78
M78 will be visible until April, 17, 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 | Sun, 15 March 2026 |
| Twighlight start | 18:40 |
| Twighlight end | 03:50 |
| Twighlight duration | 9h 10m |
| Rise | 11:24 |
| Set | 23:23 |
| Elevation at transit | 53° |
| Transit time | 17:23 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 05h 46m 45s", Dec: 00° 04' 45s |
| Magnitude | 8 |
| Constellation | Orion |
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 M78 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 M78
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 5.77939° |
| Declination | 0.07931° |
| Magnitude | 8.00 |
| Constellation | Orion |
| Elevation | 47.7° |
| Azimuth | 146.9° |
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.