Mon 28 December · Rome
A dark-sky window opens.
Properly dark 18:26–05:56 · 11h 30m
waning gibbous · 72% lit · 3h 56m 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) — 62° in the south.rises 20:44sets 10:28highest 03:32 (62°)
- MarsBest 04:30High in the small hours (around 04:30) — 59° in the south.rises 21:46sets 11:10highest 04:30 (59°)
- SaturnBest 18:26High in the south — 49° as darkness falls (18:26), then sinking through the night.rises 12:09sets 00:20highest 18:26 (49°)
- VenusBest 05:56Low in the southeast, still climbing when the sky brightens at 05:56 — only 20°.rises 03:47sets 14:04highest 05:56 (20°)
Twilight stages & sun times +
- Sunset16:46
- Civil twilight ends17:17
- Nautical twilight ends17:52
- Fully dark18:26
- First light05:56
- Nautical twilight (dawn)06:30
- Civil twilight (dawn)07:05
- Sunrise07:37
All times CET (local). Moon-free windows: 18:26–22:22.
Sun, Moon & planet altitude +
Altitude across the night (CET), 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
- 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 essentials
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →