Jupiter
Planet
Four moons visible in anything, including binoculars.
Best at 22:10
20:0022:0000:0002:0004:00
peak 61° altitude
Tonight
Five things worth going outside for.
The curve beside each one is its altitude across the night — how far above the horizon it climbs. Anything under about twenty degrees is being looked at through too much atmosphere to be worth it.
M42 · Orion
Nebula
Naked-eye from a dark site. Do not use a telescope first.
Best at 01:30
20:0022:0000:0002:0004:00
peak 52° altitude
M31 · Andromeda
Galaxy
Highest early. Look slightly to one side of it and it grows.
Best at 20:45
20:0022:0000:0002:0004:00
peak 66° altitude
The Moon
Waning crescent
Out of the way until nearly dawn, which is the good news.
Best at 04:50
20:0022:0000:0002:0004:00
peak 34° altitude
Geminids
Meteor shower
Peaks on the 14th. Radiant near Castor; look 40° away from it.
Best at 02:00
20:0022:0000:0002:0004:00
peak 68° altitude
A note on the numbers
This page is a demonstration.
A real version would compute altitude from your latitude and the date rather than reading it out of a file. The maths is not hard — it is the same spherical trigonometry a planisphere does — but a demo that quietly geolocates you is a demo nobody asked for.