Tonight’s sky
When it gets dark, what the moon’s doing, and which planets are up — for planning a night under the stars.
Waning gibbous · 83% lit
Bright moon — great for the Moon and planets; faint objects wash out.
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.
Darkness tonight
- Sunset20:27
- Civil twilight ends20:58
- Nautical twilight ends21:37
- Fully dark — a session can start22:20
- First light — dark ends04:12
- Nautical twilight (dawn)04:55
- Civil twilight (dawn)05:34
- Sunrise06:05
Moon
A bright 83%-lit moon is up through much of the night — best for the Moon, planets and bright targets; faint objects wash out.
Rises 22:11 · sets 09:54
Planets tonight (the eyepiece)
- SaturnHigh just before dawn (around 05:17) — in the south.rises 23:06highest 05:17 (52°)sets 11:39
- MarsWell-placed just before dawn (around 06:05) — in the east.rises 02:25highest 06:05 (39°)sets 17:34
- VenusLow in the evening twilight (around 20:27) — in the west, a bright evening/morning object.rises 10:00highest 20:27 (20°)sets 22:17
- MercuryJust catchable low before dawn in the east — a tricky one.rises 04:34highest 06:05 (15°)sets 19:14
Not visible at night from Rome tonight: Jupiter.
ISS passes (naked eye)
No visible ISS passes over Rome tonight.
Coming up
- Perseids meteor shower12 August · in 10 daysPeak night. The summer favourite — up to ~100/hour, warm nights.
- Total solar eclipse12 August · in 10 daysOnly visible along a narrow track on Earth — check whether it passes near you (never look at the Sun unprotected).
- Partial lunar eclipse28 AugustA shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.
- Orionids meteor shower21 OctoberPeak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.
- Leonids meteor shower17 NovemberPeak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.
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 Rome’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.