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 · 99% lit
A bright 99%-lit moon is up through much of the night — best for the Moon, planets and bright targets; faint objects wash out.
Rises 16:07·sets 09:39
Darkness tonight
- Sunset15:55
- Civil twilight ends16:35
- Nautical twilight ends17:18
- Fully dark — a session can start17:59
- First light — dark ends06:01
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:41
- Civil twilight (dawn)07:25
- Sunrise08:05
Planets tonight
- JupiterHigh in the small hours (around 03:45) — in the south.rises 20:30sets 10:55highest 03:45 (52°)
- MarsHigh in the small hours (around 04:30) — in the south.rises 21:32sets 11:31highest 04:30 (50°)
- SaturnWell-placed in the evening twilight (around 18:14) — in the south.rises 12:13sets 00:28highest 18:14 (39°)
- VenusStill climbing when the sky brightens at 06:01 — reaches 16° in the southeast.rises 03:54sets 13:38highest 06:01 (16°)
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ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.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
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 10 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 6 weeks
- Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 FebruaryA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 8 weeks
- Lyrids meteor showerThu 22 AprilPeak night. Modest but reliable, ~15/hour.in 17 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.