Tonight’s sky
When it gets dark, what the moon’s doing, and which planets are up — for planning a night under the stars.
Next 7 nights — tap a night to see it
Darker nights (lower %) are best for galaxies and nebulae. Tap any night to see its darkness, moon, planets and ISS passes.
Waning crescent · 14% lit
A 14%-lit moon for part of the night — dark enough for galaxies and nebulae. It sets at 18:18, leaving the rest of the night dark.
Rises 03:36·sets 18:18
Darkness tonight
- Sunset19:45
- Civil twilight ends20:12
- Nautical twilight ends20:43
- Fully dark — a session can start21:16
- First light — dark ends05:30
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:02
- Civil twilight (dawn)06:34
- Sunrise07:00
Planets tonight
- SaturnHigh in the small hours (around 03:06) — in the south.rises 20:59sets 09:20highest 03:06 (55°)
- MarsStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:30 — reaches 36° in the east.rises 02:14sets 16:53highest 05:30 (36°)
- VenusAlready 15° as darkness falls (19:45), then sinking — in the southwest, a bright twilight object.rises 10:41sets 21:08highest 19:45 (15°)
- JupiterStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:30 — reaches 11° in the east.rises 04:30sets 18:23highest 05:30 (11°)
ISS passes (naked eye)
ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.
Sun & Moon path (altitude over 24h)
The shaded band is the genuinely-dark part of the night. A target is easy to observe when its curve is high (above ~30°) during that band; low on the horizon means haze and rooftops. Times are EEST (local).
Coming up
- Orionids meteor showerWed 21 OctoberPeak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.in 6 weeks
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 NovemberPeak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 10 weeks
- Geminids meteor showerMon 14 DecemberPeak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 14 weeks
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 17 weeks
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.