Fri 18 September · Rome
A dark-sky window opens.
Properly dark 20:48–05:19 · 8h 31m
first quarter · 49% lit · 6h 15m of moon-free darkness
How we’d play it
A genuinely dark window — galaxies and nebulae are on the menu, and Saturn and Mars are well-placed for the eyepiece. The kind of night we plan a full session around.
Plan a night with us →Worth looking at
- SaturnBest 02:08High around the middle of the night (around 02:08) — 51° in the south.rises 19:57sets 08:19highest 02:08 (51°)
- MarsBest 05:19Well-placed in the east — 39° just before dawn (05:19), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 01:36sets 16:32highest 05:19 (39°)
- JupiterBest 05:19Low in the east, still climbing when the sky brightens at 05:19 — only 18°.rises 03:34sets 17:39highest 05:19 (18°)
- VenusBest 19:14Low in the southwest — 9° as darkness falls (19:14), then dropping, a bright twilight object.rises 10:27sets 20:11highest 19:14 (9°)
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset19:14
- Civil twilight ends19:42
- Nautical twilight ends20:15
- Fully dark20:48
- First light05:19
- Nautical twilight (dawn)05:53
- Civil twilight (dawn)06:26
- Sunrise06:54
All times CEST (local). Moon-free windows: 23:04–05:19.
Sun, Moon & planet altitude +
Altitude across the night (CEST), sunset to sunrise. A target is easy to observe when its curve is high during the shaded dark band. Tap “show planets” to overlay them.
Not tonight?
Darker nights suit galaxies and nebulae. The Moon thins out toward the end of the week.
Coming up
- Orionids meteor showerWed 21 October · Peak night. Halley’s Comet again, ~20/hour.in 5 weeks
- Leonids meteor showerTue 17 November · Peak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 9 weeks
- Geminids meteor showerMon 14 December · Peak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 12 weeks
- Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 January · Peak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 15 weeks
Show essentials
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →