M101 is well placed

The pinwheel galaxy (M101, NGC 5457) will be well placed for observation. It will reach its highest point in the sky at around midnight local time.

At a declination of +54°20', it is easiest to see from the northern hemisphere but cannot be seen from latitudes much south of 15°S.

From London, it will be visible all night because it is circumpolar. It will be highest in the sky at 01:00, 87° above your northern horizon. At dusk, it will become visible at around 21:42 (BST), 60° above your north-eastern horizon. It will be lost to dawn twilight at around 04:17, 60° above your north-western horizon.

At magnitude 7.9, M101 is quite faint, and certainly not visible to the naked eye, but can be viewed through a pair of binoculars or small telescope.

The position of M101 is as follows:

The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.

This entry in the observing calendar was provided by In-The-Sky.org

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