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.
Waxing crescent · 19% lit
A 19%-lit moon for part of the night — dark enough for galaxies and nebulae. It sets at 21:15, leaving the rest of the night dark.
Rises 11:19·sets 21:15
Darkness tonight
- Sunset15:51
- Civil twilight ends16:31
- Nautical twilight ends17:14
- Fully dark — a session can start17:55
- First light — dark ends05:54
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:35
- Civil twilight (dawn)07:18
- Sunrise07:58
Planets tonight
- JupiterHigh in the small hours (around 04:24) — in the south.rises 21:15sets 11:39highest 04:24 (52°)
- MarsHigh just before dawn (around 05:09) — in the south.rises 22:01sets 12:08highest 05:09 (50°)
- SaturnWell-placed in the evening (around 19:10) — in the south.rises 12:56sets 01:10highest 19:10 (39°)
- VenusStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:54 — reaches 17° in the southeast.rises 03:46sets 13:56highest 05:54 (17°)
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ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.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.Tomorrow
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 21 days
- 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 8 weeks
- Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 FebruaryA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 10 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.