Mon 10 August · London
A dark-sky window opens.
Properly dark 23:03–03:09 · 4h 6m
waning crescent · 6% lit · 4h 6m of moon-free darkness
How we’d play it
A genuinely dark window — galaxies and nebulae are on the menu, and Saturn is well-placed for the eyepiece. The kind of night we plan a full session around.
Plan a night with us →Worth looking at
- SaturnBest 03:09Well-placed in the southeast — 38° just before dawn (03:09), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 22:19sets 10:59highest 03:09 (38°)
- MarsBest 03:09Low in the east, still climbing when the sky brightens at 03:09 — only 14°.rises 01:22sets 17:59highest 03:09 (14°)
- MercuryBest 05:39Just catchable low before dawn in the east — a tricky one.rises 04:08sets 19:54highest 05:39 (12°)
- VenusBest 20:32Low in the west — 11° as darkness falls (20:32), then dropping, a bright twilight object.rises 10:06sets 21:44highest 20:32 (11°)
Jupiter is below the horizon whenever the sky is dark.
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset20:32
- Civil twilight ends21:11
- Nautical twilight ends22:00
- Fully dark23:03
- First light03:09
- Nautical twilight (dawn)04:11
- Civil twilight (dawn)05:01
- Sunrise05:39
All times BST (local). Moon-free windows: 23:03–03:09.
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 2 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 2 days
- Partial lunar eclipseFri 28 August · A shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 17 days
- Orionids meteor showerWed 21 October · Peak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.in 10 weeks
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 November · Peak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 14 weeks
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →