The Celestial Targets page offers a variety of curated target lists to meet the needs of astrophotographers, nightscapers and deepscapers. Additionally, you can search for any celestial target of interest using the lookup tool.
You can view data for multiple targets at a time, or just a single target. Generally, there are two views:
- Info: general information about the target or target list
- Calendar: a visibility calendar with annual and monthly views that lets you know when a target can be imaged
Getting Started
If you’re new to astrophotography, we recommend checking out our starter lists:
- Celestial Landmarks: A compact TPE-curated list of celestial landmarks, including pole markers, bright orientation stars, Southern Cross pointers, the Galactic Centre anchor, and the Magellanic Clouds
- Northern Hemisphere Beginner Targets: Bright, forgiving first deep-sky projects for northern skies
- Southern Hemisphere Beginner Targets: Big southern showpieces and forgiving first targets for new imagers
Target Information
Information, including common names, catalogue identifiers, coordinate data, and more, is shown for all targets. Summary information is shown in the list view. Click the name of any target to view more detailed information.
Some lists may categorise targets by various attributes to help you select which are the most suitable to image.
Favorite Targets
Click into one of the curated collections and you’ll see a list of the included targets. If you click the heart ♡ icon next to any entry, it will be marked as a favourite and saved to your account. The home page includes a dedicated favourites collection so you can find these targets easily in the future.
Note: your account is limited to 100 favorite targets
Annual Visibility Calendar
The Calendar tab shows the annual visibility of all the targets in the selected list, according to the visibility criteria you set. The visibility is specific to your selected location on the map: for example, if you set the map pin to a northerly location in England, you won’t see much or any visibility for southern hemisphere targets.
