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

  1. Tonight2 Aug84%
  2. Mon3 Aug76%
  3. Tue4 Aug66%
  4. Wed5 Aug55%
  5. Thu6 Aug44%
  6. Fri7 Aug33%
  7. Sat8 Aug22%

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

AthensEET

Thursday 5 November
all times EET (local)

Waning crescent · 13% lit

A 13%-lit moon for part of the night — dark enough for galaxies and nebulae. It sets at 15:35, leaving the rest of the night dark.

Rises 03:58·sets 15:35

Darkness tonight

  • Sunset17:22
  • Civil twilight ends17:49
  • Nautical twilight ends18:20
  • Fully dark — a session can start18:51
  • First light — dark ends05:26
  • Nautical twilight (dawn)05:57
  • Civil twilight (dawn)06:28
  • Sunrise06:55

Planets tonight

  • MarsStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:26 — reaches 60° in the southeast.rises 00:05sets 13:54highest 05:26 (60°)
  • JupiterStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:26 — reaches 56° in the southeast.rises 00:26sets 13:59highest 05:26 (56°)
  • SaturnHigh in the evening (around 21:56) — in the south.rises 15:56sets 04:07highest 21:56 (53°)
  • VenusStill climbing when the sky brightens at 06:55 — reaches 16° in the southeast, a bright twilight object.rises 05:25sets 16:08highest 06:55 (16°)

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ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.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

+60°+30°-30°-60°000306091215182124
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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 EET (local).

Coming up

  • Leonids meteor showerTue 17 NovemberPeak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 12 days
  • Geminids meteor showerMon 14 DecemberPeak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 6 weeks
  • Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 8 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 13 weeks
  • Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 FebruaryA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 15 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.