M96 Observation Details
M96 Daily Motion
M96 will be visible until June, 23, 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.
M96 Visibility Timetable on December 22
Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Astrosession begin | 18:48 | -34° |
| M96 rise | 22:33 | |
| Moon Rise, 57% illuminated | 23:50 | 15° |
| M96 transit | 05:12 | 62° |
| Astrosession end | 06:13 | 59° |
| Civil sunrise | 07:20 | 50° |
| Sunrise | 07:52 | 45° |
| M96 set | 11:52 | |
| Moon Set | 12:24 | -6° |
Track M96 Position Throughout the Night
← Sun, 22 December 2024 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M96 - Spiral Galaxy
M96 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Leo. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M96 is known for its bright core and well-defined spiral arms.
M96 spans about 100,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 38 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 10.1, making it visible with a small telescope.
M96 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 M96
| Object name | M96 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M96 coordinates | 10.77937, 11.81994 |
| Center coordinates | 10.77937, 11.81994 |
M96 Passage Through Night
Current position of M96
| Time | 21:55 |
| Latitude | 39.9625 |
| Longitude | -83.0061 |
| M96 elevation | -7° |
| M96 Azimuth | -68° |
Annual motion of M96
| Date | Mon, 23 December 2024 |
| Twighlight start | 18:48 |
| Twighlight end | 06:11 |
| Twighlight duration | 11h 23m |
| Rise | 22:29 |
| Set | 11:48 |
| Elevation at transit | 62° |
| Transit time | 05:09 |
| Equatorial coordinate | RA: 10h 46m 45s", Dec: 11° 49' 11s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Leo |
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 M96 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.