Mon 28 December · London
A dark-sky window opens.
Properly dark 18:02–06:02 · 12h
waning gibbous · 72% lit · 4h 7m of moon-free darkness
How we’d play it
A genuinely dark window — galaxies and nebulae are on the menu, and Jupiter, Mars 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
- JupiterBest 03:32High in the small hours (around 03:32) — 52° in the south.
- MarsBest 04:17High in the small hours (around 04:17) — 49° in the south.
- SaturnBest 18:02Well-placed in the south — 39° as darkness falls (18:02), then sinking through the night.
- VenusBest 06:02Low in the southeast, still climbing when the sky brightens at 06:02 — only 15°.
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset15:58
- Civil twilight ends16:38
- Nautical twilight ends17:21
- Fully dark18:02
- First light06:02
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:42
- Civil twilight (dawn)07:26
- Sunrise08:06
All times GMT (local). Moon-free windows: 18:02–22:09.
Not tonight?
Darker nights suit galaxies and nebulae. The Moon thins out toward the end of the week.
Coming up
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 January · Peak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 6 days
- 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 6 weeks
- Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 February · A shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 8 weeks
- Lyrids meteor showerThu 22 April · Peak night. Modest but reliable, ~15/hour.in 16 weeks
Show full detail
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →