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

  1. Tonight3 Aug80%
  2. Tue4 Aug71%
  3. Wed5 Aug60%
  4. Thu6 Aug49%
  5. Fri7 Aug38%
  6. Sat8 Aug27%
  7. Sun9 Aug17%

Darker nights (lower %) are best for galaxies and nebulae. Tap any night to see its darkness, moon, planets and ISS passes.

MunichCET

Wednesday 18 November
all times CET (local)

Waxing gibbous · 62% lit

A 62%-lit moon is up for some of the dark window — deep-sky objects still show, brightest targets best.

Rises 13:34·sets 00:56

Darkness tonight

  • Sunset16:32
  • Civil twilight ends17:06
  • Nautical twilight ends17:44
  • Fully dark — a session can start18:21
  • First light — dark ends05:36
  • Nautical twilight (dawn)06:13
  • Civil twilight (dawn)06:51
  • Sunrise07:26

Planets tonight

  • MarsStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:36 — reaches 55° in the south.rises 23:11sets 13:29highest 05:36 (55°)
  • JupiterStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:36 — reaches 54° in the south.rises 23:10sets 13:19highest 05:36 (54°)
  • SaturnWell-placed in the evening (around 20:56) — in the south.rises 14:50sets 03:03highest 20:56 (43°)
  • MercuryJust catchable low before dawn in the southeast — a tricky one.rises 05:34sets 15:53highest 07:26 (16°)
  • VenusStill climbing when the sky brightens at 05:36 — reaches 10° in the southeast.rises 04:26sets 15:05highest 05:36 (10°)

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ISS pass times are unavailable right now — The ISS orbit data is out of date — check back later.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)

+60°+30°-30°-60°000306091215182124
0006121824

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 CET (local).

Coming up

  • Geminids meteor showerMon 14 DecemberPeak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 4 weeks
  • Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 JanuaryPeak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 7 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 11 weeks
  • Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 FebruaryA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 13 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 Munich’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.