Credits
Weather and air quality
Weather data by Open-Meteo.com, under CC BY 4.0. RigTonight changes it: it combines the models hour by hour and works out its own clear-sky, seeing and transparency estimates and night scores from them. The forecast models behind it:
- ECMWF IFS open data. Source: ECMWF, CC BY 4.0.
- NOAA NCEP GFS. US Government work, in the public domain.
- DWD ICON. Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst, CC BY 4.0.
- ECCC GEM. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, under the ECCC Data Servers End-use Licence.
- UK Met Office models. Source: Met Office, CC BY-SA 4.0. The forecast values RigTonight derives from them are shared under the same licence.
- Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (aerosols, for transparency). Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information (2026). Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.
Other data
- Deep-sky catalog: adapted from OpenNGC by Mattia Verga (CC BY-SA 4.0). RigTonight’s version keeps Messier and imageable objects, renames fields, converts units and rounds values, and is shared under the same licence.
- Place search: Photon by komoot. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License.
- Sky previews: the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), shown with Aladin Lite (CDS, Strasbourg) and served by CDS or by ESA’s ESASky mirror. The Digitized Sky Surveys were produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166, based on photographic data from the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. POSS-II images © California Institute of Technology; UK Schmidt images © Anglo-Australian Observatory Board and UK PPARC; other material © AURA. Shown for non-commercial use with acknowledgement.
- Sun, moon and positions: astronomy-engine by Don Cross (MIT).
- Gear specifications: read from the manufacturers’ published product pages, each linked from its part. Celestron, William Optics, Askar/Sharpstar and iOptron specs are used with their written permission; Player One, QHYCCD and Optolong specs are collected under their sites’ own rules. Thank you to all of them.
Software
RigTonight is built with open-source software, including React, Aladin Lite (LGPL-3.0) and the Inter typeface (SIL OFL 1.1). Every package and its licence is listed on the Open-source licences page.
Trademarks
Product and company names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the gear. RigTonight isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by any manufacturer. “Verified” means the specs were read from the manufacturer’s published product page, not that the manufacturer has checked them.
Target pictures
Thumbnails come from Wikimedia Commons, each used under the free licence shown (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA). Changes: every image was resized to 120 pixels wide and is shown cropped to a square. Thumbnails of CC BY-SA images are shared under the same licence as the original. The credit is the author as given on the image’s Commons page, led by the name the licence asks to be credited where that differs. Objects without a free image show a drawn icon instead.
| Object | Image | Credit | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amas de l'Ecu de Sobieski | Eso1430a.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| Andromeda Galaxy | M31-Andromede-16-09-2023-Hamois.jpg | Luc Viatour (Lviatour) | CC BY-SA 2.5 |
| Beehive | M44-Star-Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| Black Eye Galaxy | NGC 4826 - HST.png | Judy Schmidt from USA | CC BY 2.0 |
| Bode's Galaxy | Messier 81 HST.jpg | NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) | Public domain |
| Bubble Nebula | The Bubble Nebula - NGC 7635 - Heic1608a.jpg | NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team | Public domain |
| Butterfly Cluster | Messier 6 - The Butterfly Cluster.jpg | Giuseppe Donatiello from Oria (Brindisi), Italy | CC0 |
| California Nebula | NCG1499CalNeb.jpg | Aroughroad | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Carina Nebula | Carina Nebula by Harel Boren (151851961, modified).jpg | Harel Boren | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Cave Nebula | CaveHunterWilson.jpg | Hewholooks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Cigar Galaxy | M82 HST ACS 2006-14-a-large web.jpg | NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) | Public domain |
| Cocoon Nebula | IC 5146 LRGB.png | Outten Astrophotography | CC BY 4.0 |
| Coma Pinwheel | M99s crop.jpg | Credit Line and Copyright Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Cone & Christmas Tree | NGC 2264.jpg | NASA - NASA/JPL-Caltech/P.S. Teixeira (Center for Astrophysics) | Public domain |
| Crab Nebula | Crab Nebula.jpg | NASA , ESA , J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University) | Public domain |
| Crescent Nebula | NGC 6888.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| Double Cluster | H and χ Persei.jpg | Markus Pössel | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Dumbbell Nebula | M27 - Noao-m27.jpg | REU program/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA | CC BY 4.0 |
| Eagle Nebula | Eagle Nebula from ESO.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| Eastern Veil | Veil Nebula - NGC6960.jpg | Ken Crawford | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Fireworks Galaxy | Fireworks Galaxy.jpg | Andreigusan | CC0 |
| Flaming Star Nebula | Flaming Star Nebula, IC 405.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| Ghost of Cassiopeia | Gamma Cassiopeiae by Kees Scherer.jpg | Kees Scherer | CC0 |
| Heart Nebula | Heart Nebula (2020-08-11).jpg | Ram samudrala | CC BY 4.0 |
| Helix Nebula | NGC7293 (2004).jpg | NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), M. Meixner and P. McCullough (STScI) | Public domain |
| Hercules Cluster | M13-Globular-Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| Horsehead & Flame | Barnard 33.jpg | Ken Crawford | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Iris Nebula | Iris Nebula - NGC 7023 - Caldwell 4.jpg | Andreigusan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Jellyfish Nebula | IC443 Final with copyright.jpg | Siderevs nuncivs | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Lagoon Nebula | VST images the Lagoon Nebula.jpg | ESO/VPHAS+ team | CC BY 4.0 |
| Leo Triplet | Messier 65 through the years.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | Public domain |
| M10 | M10 Höcherl.jpg | Manfred Höcherl | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M100 | Messier 100 — Grand Design Splendour.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| M103 | M103 Mazur.jpg | Jim Mazur | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M105 | Messier105 - HST - Potw1901a.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Sarazin et al. | CC BY 4.0 |
| M106 | Messier 106 visible and infrared composite.jpg | NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team). Acknowledgment: J. GaBany | Public domain |
| M107 | Messier 107 Hubble WikiSky.jpg | en:NASA , en:STScI , en:WikiSky | Public domain |
| M108 | Messier108 - SDSS DR 14 (panorama).jpg | Sloan Digital Sky Survey | CC BY 4.0 |
| M109 | M109 (noao-m109hatfield).jpg | KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/George Hatfield and Flynn Haase | CC BY 4.0 |
| M110 | Not So Dead After All (48742429322).jpg | European Space Agency | CC BY 2.0 |
| M12 | M12 Adam Block.jpg | Adam Block | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M14 | Messier 14.jpg | NOIRLAB / NSF / AURA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M15 | M15 Globular Cluster from the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Schulman Telescope courtesy Adam Block.jpg | Ngc1535 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M18 | Messier 18.jpg | Fabian Rodriguez Frustaglia | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M19 | M19-Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M2 | Messier2 - HST - Potw1913a.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto et al. | CC BY 4.0 |
| M21 | Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae Excerpt- Messier 21 (noirlab2521ag).jpg | RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M22 | The crammed centre of Messier 22.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M23 | M23 Open Star Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M25 | M025.jpg | Starhopper | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M26 | Messier 26 Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M28 | M28 - HST-U-V-IR.jpg | NASA, ESA, STScI, R. Buonanno (Universita di Roma Tor Vergata), K. Gebhardt (University of Texas at Austin), J. Grindlay (Harvard University), and F. Ferraro (Universita di Bologna) | Public domain |
| M29 | Messier 29.jpg | Veryoldphotons | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M3 | NASA’s Hubble Spots Star-Spangled Cosmic Scene (M3).jpg | NASA, ESA, and A. Sarajedini (Florida Atlantic University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) | Public domain |
| M30 | M30 NASA.jpg | NASA/ESA | Public domain |
| M32 | M32 Francione inverted.jpg | Fabrizio Francione | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M34 | M34 Mazur.jpg | Jim Mazur | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M35 | M35 and NGC 2158.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M36 | M36-pinwheel-cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M37 | M37 Star Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M38 | IC 410 - IC 417 - NGC 1912 in Auriga.jpg | gjdonatiello | CC0 |
| M39 | M39-Star-Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M4 | Globular star cluster Messier 4.jpg | ESO Imaging Survey | CC BY 4.0 |
| M40 | M40 (Winnecke 4) (noao-m40).jpg | NOIRLab/ NSF /AURA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M41 | M41-Open-Cluster-of-Stars.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M46 | M46-star-cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M47 | M47-Star-Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M48 | M48 Mazur.jpg | Jim Mazur | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M49 | Messier 49-Rubin Observatory.png | RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M5 | M5-Messier-5.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M50 | M50 Open Star Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M52 | M52atlas.jpg | Author not stated | Public domain |
| M53 | Messier53 - SDSS DR14 (panorama).jpg | Sloan Digital Sky Survey | CC BY 4.0 |
| M54 | Messier 54 HST.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | CC BY 3.0 |
| M55 | Messier 55 VISTA.jpg | ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M56 | Messier 56 Hubble WikiSky.jpg | en:NASA , en:STScI , en:WikiSky | Public domain |
| M58 | M58s (visible).jpg | Credit Line and Copyright Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona | CC BY-SA 3.0 us |
| M59 | Messier59 - HST - Potw1921a.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Ho et al. | CC BY 4.0 |
| M60 | Arp116 Hubble.jpg | NASA, ESA | CC BY 3.0 |
| M61 | A hungry starburst galaxy.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Det58 | CC BY 4.0 |
| M62 | Messier62 - HST - Potw1915a.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Anderson et al. | CC BY 4.0 |
| M65 | Messier 65 through the years.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | Public domain |
| M66 | Phot-33c-03-fullres.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| M67 | M67-Star-Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M68 | Messier 68 Hubble WikiSky.jpg | en:NASA , en:STScI , en:WikiSky | Public domain |
| M69 | Cosmic riches.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | CC BY 3.0 |
| M70 | Messier70-HST-Potw1215a.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M71 | Messier 71, an Unusual Globular Cluster.jpg | ESA/Hubble and NASA | CC BY 3.0 |
| M72 | M72 Hubble WikiSky.jpg | en:NASA , en:STScI , en:WikiSky | Public domain |
| M73 | Messier 73 wikisky.jpg | Digitized Sky Survey 2 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| M75 | Crowded cluster Messier 75.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Ferraro et al. | CC BY 4.0 |
| M77 | Messier 77 spiral galaxy by HST.jpg | NASA, ESA & A. van der Hoeven | Public domain |
| M78 | Messier 78.jpg | ESO/Igor Chekalin | CC BY 4.0 |
| M79 | A snowstorm of stars.jpg | ESA/Hubble; NASA and ESA Acknowledgement: S. Djorgovski (Caltech) and F. Ferraro (University of Bologna) | CC BY 4.0 |
| M80 | Messier 80 Cluster.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| M84 | A fascinating core.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M85 | Messier85 - HST - Potw1905a.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. O'Connell | CC BY 4.0 |
| M86 | Beacon of Light Messier 86.jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, P. Cote et al. | CC BY 4.0 |
| M88 | M88 2022 revision.jpg | Ngc1535 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M89 | Messier89 - HST - Potw1902a.tif | ESA/Hubble and NASA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M9 | Globular cluster Messier 9 (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope).tif | NASA & ESA | CC BY 4.0 |
| M90 | Messier 90 - HST.png | Judy Schmidt from USA | CC BY 2.0 |
| M91 | M91 wfc3 4 crop v2 final.jpg | NASA, ESA, and J. Lee (California Institute of Technology) | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M92 | M92 Hubble WikiSky.jpg | en:NASA , en:STScI , en:WikiSky | Public domain |
| M93 | M93 Eguivar.jpg | Sergio Eguivar | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| M94 | Messier 94.jpg | R Jay Gabany (Blackbird Obs.) | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| M95 | The VLT goes lion hunting.jpg | ESO | CC BY 3.0 |
| M96 | Messier 96 as Seen with DESI Legacy Survey (noirlab2620a).jpg | DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys/LBNL/DOE & KPNO/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image processing: M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) | CC BY 4.0 |
| M98 | Messier 98.jpg | ESO Acknowledgements: Flickr user jbarring | CC BY 4.0 |
| Mairan's Nebula | M43 HST.jpg | NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team | Public domain |
| Monkey Head Nebula | NGC-2174.tif | Tal Achituv | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Needle Galaxy | Needle Galaxy 4565.jpeg | Ken Crawford | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| NGC 2403 | NGC 2403 - A Galaxy of Birth and Death (iotw2221a).jpg | KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. T. Patterson (New Mexico State University) Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab) | CC BY 4.0 |
| North America Nebula | NGC 7000 + IC 5070.jpg | gjdonatiello | CC0 |
| Omega Centauri | Omega Centauri Stars.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| Omega Nebula | VST image of the spectacular star-forming region Messier 17 (Omega Nebula).jpg | ESO/INAF-VST/OmegaCAM. Acknowledgement: OmegaCen/Astro-WISE/Kapteyn Institute | CC BY 4.0 |
| Orion Nebula | Orion Nebula - Hubble 2006 mosaic 18000.jpg | NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team | Public domain |
| Owl Nebula | Noao-m97.tif | NOIRLab / NSF / AURA | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Owl Nebula & M108 | Noao-m97.tif | NOIRLab / NSF / AURA | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Pacman Nebula | PacMan Nebula, NGC 281.jpg | Chuck Ayoub | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Pelican Nebula | Pelican nebula ic5070 ic5067.jpg | Miodrag Sekulic | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Phantom Galaxy | Webb and Hubble’s Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 628 (2024-105).png | NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS Team | Public domain |
| Pinwheel Galaxy | M101 hires STScI-PRC2006-10a.jpg | European Space Agency & NASA Acknowledgements: Project Investigators for the original Hubble data: K.D. Kuntz (GSFC), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (JPL), J. Mould (NOAO), and Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) Image processing: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble) CFHT image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum NOAO image: George Jacoby, Bruce Bohannan, Mark Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF | CC BY 4.0 |
| Pleiades | Pleiades large.jpg | NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory The science team consists of: D. Soderblom and E. Nelan (STScI), F. Benedict and B. Arthur (U. Texas), and B. Jones (Lick Obs.) | Public domain |
| Ptolemy's Cluster | The star cluster Messier 7.jpg | ESO | CC BY 3.0 |
| Ring Nebula | Webb captures detailed beauty of Ring Nebula (NIRCam image) (weic2320b).jpg | ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson | CC BY 4.0 |
| Rosette Nebula | SHO Final with copyright.jpg | Siderevs nuncivs | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Running Chicken Nebula | The Very Large Telescope Snaps a Stellar Nursery and Celebrates Fifteen Years of Operations.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| Sadr Region | Gamma Cygni Combine10s (18842750261).jpg | Giuseppe Donatiello | CC0 |
| Sculptor Galaxy | NGC 253 - Sculptor.png | Chuck Ayoub | CC0 |
| Seagull Nebula | Seagull Nebula.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| Silver Sliver Galaxy | NGC891HunterWilson.jpg | Hewholooks | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Small Sgr Star Cloud | Messier 24 Colombari crop invert.jpg | Roberto Colombari | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Sombrero Galaxy | Sombrero Galaxy (heic2506a).jpg | ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll | CC BY 4.0 |
| Soul Nebula | Celestial Valentine.jpg | NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian | Public domain |
| Southern Pinwheel Galaxy | The Outskirts of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (noirlab2429a).jpg | CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) | CC BY 4.0 |
| Sunflower Galaxy | M63 (NGC 5055).jpg | NASA/ESA - The Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA): Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF), and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC) - zoranknez (Aladin software) | Public domain |
| Tadpoles Nebula | IC410 SHO.jpg | Pierson Lipschultz | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Tarantula Nebula | NGC 2070 ESO.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| Triangulum Galaxy | VST snaps a very detailed view of the Triangulum Galaxy.jpg | ESO | CC BY 4.0 |
| Trifid Nebula | Trifid Nebula (noirlab2521ah).jpg | RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA | CC BY 4.0 |
| Tulip Nebula | Tulip-Nebula.jpg | Chuck Ayoub | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Veil Nebula (complete) | Veil Nebula - NGC6960.jpg | Ken Crawford | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
| Virgo Galaxy | Messier 87 Hubble WikiSky.jpg | en:NASA , en:STScI , en:WikiSky | Public domain |
| Whirlpool Galaxy | Messier51 sRGB.jpg | NASA and European Space Agency | Public domain |
| Witch Head Nebula | Starless witch head stack ks Final 4.jpg | Sousajp7 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Wizard Nebula | Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380.jpg | Chuck Ayoub | CC BY-SA 4.0 |