Tue 3 November · London
A dark-sky window opens.
Properly dark 18:23–05:05 · 10h 41m
waning crescent · 30% lit · 6h 53m of moon-free darkness
How we’d play it
A genuinely dark window — galaxies and nebulae are on the menu, and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are well-placed for the eyepiece. The kind of night we plan a full session around.
Plan a night with us →Worth looking at
- MarsBest 05:05High in the southeast — 50° just before dawn (05:05), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 23:09sets 14:08highest 05:05 (50°)
- JupiterBest 05:05High in the southeast — 46° just before dawn (05:05), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 23:39sets 14:10highest 05:05 (46°)
- SaturnBest 21:44Well-placed in the evening (around 21:44) — 40° in the south.rises 15:37sets 03:53highest 21:44 (40°)
- VenusBest 06:59Low in the southeast, still climbing when the sky brightens at 06:59 — only 11°, a bright twilight object.rises 05:38sets 15:25highest 06:59 (11°)
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset16:29
- Civil twilight ends17:05
- Nautical twilight ends17:44
- Fully dark18:23
- First light05:05
- Nautical twilight (dawn)05:43
- Civil twilight (dawn)06:23
- Sunrise06:59
All times GMT (local). Moon-free windows: 18:23–01:16.
Sun, Moon & planet altitude +
Altitude across the night (GMT), 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
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 November · Peak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 14 days
- Geminids meteor showerMon 14 December · Peak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 6 weeks
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 January · Peak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 9 weeks
- Annular solar eclipseSat 6 February · Only visible along a narrow track on Earth — check whether it passes near you (never look at the Sun unprotected).in 14 weeks
- Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 February · A shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 16 weeks
Show essentials
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →