M94 Observation Details
M94 Daily Motion
M94 will be visible until September, 4, 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.
M94 Visibility Timetable on January 21
Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Astrosession begin | 19:13 | -5° |
| M94 rise | 20:08 | |
| Moon Rise, 46.2% illuminated | 01:37 | 49° |
| M94 transit | 05:14 | 89° |
| Astrosession end | 06:13 | 79° |
| Civil sunrise | 07:18 | 66° |
| Sunrise | 07:49 | 61° |
| Moon Set | 11:50 | 19° |
Track M94 Position Throughout the Night
← Tue, 21 January 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M94 - Croc's Eye Galaxy
The Croc's Eye Galaxy (M94) is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M94 is known for its bright central region and outer ring of stars.
M94 spans about 50,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 16 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.2, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M94 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 M94
| Object name | M94 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M94 coordinates | 12.84807, 41.12044 |
| Center coordinates | 12.84807, 41.12044 |
M94 Passage Through Night
Current position of M94
| Time | 09:11 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M94 elevation | 47° |
| M94 Azimuth | 69° |
Annual motion of M94
| Date | Wed, 22 January 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 19:09 |
| Twighlight end | 06:08 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 59m |
| Rise | 20:08 |
| Set | 14:21 |
| Elevation at transit | 89° |
| Transit time | 05:14 |
| Equatorial coordinate | RA: 12h 50m 53s", Dec: 41° 07' 13s |
| Magnitude | 8 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
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 M94 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.