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Tonight’s sky

When it gets dark, what the moon’s doing, and which planets are up — for planning a night under the stars.

Waxing crescent · 1% lit

Dark skies — ideal for galaxies and nebulae.

Next 7 nights — tap a night to see it

  1. Tonight29 Jul100%
  2. Thu30 Jul98%
  3. Fri31 Jul95%
  4. Sat1 Aug90%
  5. Sun2 Aug82%
  6. Mon3 Aug74%
  7. Tue4 Aug64%

Darker nights (lower %) are best for galaxies and nebulae. Tap any night to see its darkness, moon, planets and ISS passes.

AthensEEST

‹Thursday 13 August›
all times EEST (local)

Darkness tonight

  • Sunset20:20
  • Civil twilight ends20:49
  • Nautical twilight ends21:23
  • Fully dark — a session can start21:59
  • First light — dark ends05:00
  • Nautical twilight (dawn)05:37
  • Civil twilight (dawn)06:11
  • Sunrise06:39

Moon

Moon-free dark skies (it sets at 20:50) — ideal for galaxies and nebulae.

Rises 07:12 · sets 20:50

Planets tonight (the eyepiece)

  • SaturnHigh in the small hours (around 04:56) — in the south.rises 22:40highest 04:56 (55°)sets 11:08
  • MarsWell-placed just before dawn (around 06:39) — in the east.rises 02:40highest 06:39 (45°)sets 17:26
  • VenusLow in the evening twilight (around 20:20) — in the west, a bright evening/morning object.rises 10:28highest 20:20 (20°)sets 22:10
  • MercuryJust catchable low before dawn in the east — a tricky one.rises 05:24highest 06:39 (12°)sets 19:40
  • JupiterLow just before dawn (around 06:39) — in the east, a bright evening/morning object.rises 05:44highest 06:39 (10°)sets 19:48

ISS passes (naked eye)

ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.

Coming up

  • Partial lunar eclipse28 August · in 14 daysA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.
  • Orionids meteor shower21 OctoberPeak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.
  • Leonids meteor shower17 NovemberPeak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.

Meteor showers are best on a moonless night away from town lights — use the moon panel above to judge. Eclipse and shower dates are worldwide; whether it’s above your horizon depends on your location and time.

Every time is shown in Athens’s own local clock, with daylight saving applied for the date. “—” means the event doesn’t occur (for example, some nights the moon doesn’t rise); “stays light” means the sky never reaches that stage (northern summer). ISS pass times use live orbital data and show only passes visible to the naked eye (bright enough, in a dark-enough sky). Planet visibility is judged during the genuinely-dark window, not by a daytime high point — so a planet only appears here when you could actually see it.