Fri 7 August · London
A part-dark night.
Properly dark 23:14–02:58 · 3h 45m
waning crescent · 32% lit · 34m of moon-free darkness
How we’d play it
A part-dark night: we start on the Moon and Saturn while the Moon is up, then turn to deep-sky once it's down and the sky is properly black.
Plan a night with us →Worth looking at
- SaturnBest 02:58Well-placed in the southeast — 36° just before dawn (02:58), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 22:31sets 11:11highest 02:58 (36°)
- MercuryBest 05:34Just catchable low before dawn in the east — a tricky one.rises 03:57sets 19:48highest 05:34 (13°)
- MarsBest 02:58Low in the northeast, still climbing when the sky brightens at 02:58 — only 12°.rises 01:26sets 18:02highest 02:58 (12°)
- VenusBest 20:38Low in the west — 12° as darkness falls (20:38), then dropping, a bright twilight object.rises 10:00sets 21:53highest 20:38 (12°)
Jupiter is below the horizon whenever the sky is dark.
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset20:38
- Civil twilight ends21:17
- Nautical twilight ends22:08
- Fully dark23:14
- First light02:58
- Nautical twilight (dawn)04:04
- Civil twilight (dawn)04:55
- Sunrise05:34
All times BST (local). Moon-free windows: 23:14–23:48.
Sun, Moon & planet altitude +
Altitude across the night (BST), 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 5 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 5 days
- Partial lunar eclipseFri 28 August · A shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 20 days
- Orionids meteor showerWed 21 October · Peak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.in 11 weeks
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 November · Peak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 15 weeks
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →