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.
Waning gibbous · 86% lit
A bright 86%-lit moon is up through much of the night — best for the Moon, planets and bright targets; faint objects wash out.
Rises 18:40·sets 11:43
Darkness tonight
- Sunset15:57
- Civil twilight ends16:36
- Nautical twilight ends17:18
- Fully dark — a session can start17:58
- First light — dark ends05:38
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:18
- Civil twilight (dawn)07:00
- Sunrise07:39
Planets tonight
- JupiterHigh just before dawn (around 05:24) — in the south.rises 22:16sets 12:40highest 05:24 (52°)
- MarsStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:38 — reaches 52° in the south.rises 22:34sets 12:58highest 05:38 (52°)
- SaturnWell-placed in the evening (around 20:09) — in the south.rises 14:00sets 02:14highest 20:09 (39°)
- VenusStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:38 — reaches 14° in the southeast.rises 03:55sets 14:27highest 05:38 (14°)
- MercuryJust catchable low before dawn in the southeast — a tricky one.rises 05:54sets 15:18highest 07:39 (13°)
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ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.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 GMT (local).
Coming up
- Geminids meteor showerMon 14 DecemberPeak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 17 days
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 5 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 10 weeks
- Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 FebruaryA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 12 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 London’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.