Sun 9 August · Athens
A dark-sky window opens.
Properly dark 22:05–04:55 · 6h 50m
waning crescent · 12% lit · 5h 20m of moon-free darkness
How we’d play it
A genuinely dark window — galaxies and nebulae are on the menu, and Saturn is well-placed for the eyepiece. The kind of night we plan a full session around.
Plan a night with us →Worth looking at
- SaturnBest 04:55High in the south — 55° just before dawn (04:55), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 22:56sets 11:20highest 04:55 (55°)
- MarsBest 04:55Low in the east, still climbing when the sky brightens at 04:55 — only 24°.rises 02:43sets 17:29highest 04:55 (24°)
- VenusBest 20:25Low in the west — 21° as darkness falls (20:25), then dropping, a bright twilight object.rises 10:25sets 22:16highest 20:25 (21°)
- MercuryBest 06:35Just catchable low before dawn in the east — a tricky one.rises 05:12sets 19:33highest 06:35 (15°)
Jupiter is below the horizon whenever the sky is dark.
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset20:25
- Civil twilight ends20:54
- Nautical twilight ends21:28
- Fully dark22:05
- First light04:55
- Nautical twilight (dawn)05:32
- Civil twilight (dawn)06:07
- Sunrise06:35
All times EEST (local). Moon-free windows: 22:05–03:25.
Sun, Moon & planet altitude +
Altitude across the night (EEST), sunset to sunrise. A target is easy to observe when its curve is high during the shaded dark band. Tap “show planets” to overlay them.
Not tonight?
Darker nights suit galaxies and nebulae. The Moon thins out toward the end of the week.
Coming up
- Perseids meteor showerWed 12 August · Peak night. The summer favourite — up to ~100/hour, warm nights.in 3 days
- Total solar eclipseWed 12 August · Only visible along a narrow track on Earth — check whether it passes near you (never look at the Sun unprotected).in 3 days
- Partial lunar eclipseFri 28 August · A shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 18 days
- Orionids meteor showerWed 21 October · Peak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.in 10 weeks
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 November · Peak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 14 weeks
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →