Stargazing in Wellington

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Wellington sits at latitude -41.29°, with a sky brightness of Bortle 7. That is urban or inner-suburban skies, so narrowband filters and short subexposures are your friends. Below is a preview of the strongest deep-sky targets above 30° altitude during astronomical night from your location around 2026-05-16. Open the live planner for tonight's exact schedule.

Tonight's top targets from Wellington

1. 01 Table of Scorpius (NGC6231)
   Open cluster • magnitude 2.6 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 89°
2. 02 Prawn Nebula (IC4628)
   Emission nebula • magnitude 99.0 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 89°
3. 03 NGC 5460 (NGC5460)
   Open cluster • magnitude 5.6 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 83°
4. 04 Fighting Dragons of Ara (NGC6188)
   Emission nebula • magnitude 99.0 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 83°
5. 05 NGC 6397 (NGC6397)
   Globular cluster • magnitude 5.2 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 78°
6. 06 M4 (M4)
   Globular cluster • magnitude 5.9 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 75°
7. 07 Jewel Box Cluster (NGC4755)
   Open cluster • magnitude 99.0 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 71°
8. 08 M80 (M80)
   Globular cluster • magnitude 7.9 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 72°
9. 09 Spiral Planetary Nebula (NGC5189)
   Planetary nebula • magnitude 10.0 • 8.0h above 30° • transits at 65°
10. 10 Bug Nebula (NGC6302)
    Planetary nebula • magnitude 9.6 • 7.7h above 30° • transits at 86°

Stargazing in nearby cities

• Sydney (Australia)
• Melbourne (Australia)
• Brisbane (Australia)
• Perth (Australia)
• Auckland (New Zealand)