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.
Waxing crescent · 16% lit
Moon-free dark skies (it sets at 20:42) — ideal for galaxies and nebulae.
Rises —·sets 20:42
Darkness tonight
- Sunset18:49
- Civil twilight ends19:15
- Nautical twilight ends19:46
- Fully dark — a session can start20:16
- First light — dark ends06:05
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:36
- Civil twilight (dawn)07:06
- Sunrise07:33
Planets tonight
- SaturnHigh around the middle of the night (around 00:34) — in the south.rises 18:27sets 06:41highest 00:34 (54°)
- MarsStill climbing when the sky brightens at 06:05 — reaches 52° in the east.rises 01:34sets 15:45highest 06:05 (52°)
- JupiterStill climbing when the sky brightens at 06:05 — reaches 40° in the east.rises 02:38sets 16:17highest 06:05 (40°)
- MercuryJust catchable low after sunset in the southwest — a tricky one.rises 09:45sets 19:40highest 18:49 (9°)
Not visible at night from Athens tonight: Venus.
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ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.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 7 days
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 NovemberPeak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 5 weeks
- Geminids meteor showerMon 14 DecemberPeak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 9 weeks
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 12 weeks
- Annular solar eclipseSat 6 FebruaryOnly visible along a narrow track on Earth — check whether it passes near you (never look at the Sun unprotected).in 16 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.