Oia is about the sunset
The Greek National Tourism Organisation's caldera route ends at Oia and its famous sunset. That supports a twilight stop — not a claim about dark skies.
Source: Greek National Tourism OrganisationSantorini sunset tonight
A caldera sunset first — and an honest answer about the night that follows.
Calculated for Oia caldera rim (36.461, 25.373)Local time GMT+2 (UTC+2)
Tonight at a glance · Fri 6 Nov
Sunset at Oia caldera rim
17:17 · Cloud not yet forecast
Use the sunset time to plan; sky colour and horizon visibility are not forecast.
Stargazing assessment
Stargazing at Oia caldera rimForecast
Go
Go out between 05:00 and 05:20 — this is the best forecast window.
Use the remaining part of this window for bright stars; this is not a Milky Way, planet or meteor timing recommendation. Check the latest weather before travelling.
The Tonight engine selects this window because the sky holds clear, Moonlight doesn't affect the best viewing window. No earlier remaining scored hours are available for comparison; this does not establish that waiting is better.
Window cloud ≈2%; whole-night mean 2%. Moon altitude in the scored hours: 6°–6°. Cloud, darkness, Moon altitude and rain affect the timing; a full Moon can remain up throughout.
How to interpret this assessment
Go means conditions are usable; Wait is shown only when remaining earlier scored hours support a timing improvement; Later window means there is no demonstrated reason to delay. Neither label ranks places. The window is selected by hourly cloud, darkness, Moon altitude and rain, with whole-night context in the verdict. It is not a guarantee or proof that earlier hours are unusable. Artificial light, terrain, access and personal safety are not scored. The former confidence percentage was an uncalibrated internal heuristic using forecast coverage, cloud variation, rain and score margin — not the probability of clear weather or a successful outing. It is no longer shown here.
Whole-night context — not just the chosen window
- Only 2% cloud, night average
- Moon is nearly dark (5%)
- 10.6 h of full darkness
- Planets: 4 planets well above the haze
Sunset
17:17
Cloud at sunset: no forecast
Full darkness
18:45
Sun 18° below horizon
Best stargazing window
05:00–05:20
Inside astronomical darkness · Tonight engine
Night cloud
2%
Live forecast in use
Moon
5% lit
Waning Crescent · up ≈5% of dark hours
Milky Way core
18:45–18:53
peaks 6° high
Choose tonight’s experience
- General stargazing
- Go · 05:00–05:20. Use the forecast window and check the sky locally.
- Milky Way
- Check 18:45–18:53 above 5° (geometry only); verify cloud and local lighting.
- Planets
- Mars highest at 05:45 · Jupiter highest at 05:45 · Saturn highest at 21:45. Geometry only; check cloud at these times. A full Moon does not rule out bright planets.
- Meteors
- Skip tonight. The Orionids are active but tonight is 17 days after peak, so rates stay well below the headline ZHR of 20.
- Sunset
- Plan for 17:17 · cloud not confirmed. Colour and a clear local horizon are not predicted.
Sunset and twilight
Evening of Fri 6 NovAstronomy
17:17
Sunset
17:44
Civil twilight ends
18:15
Nautical twilight ends
18:45
Astronomical darkness
Astronomical darkness begins at 18:45. Faint-star and Milky Way visibility also depends on cloud, Moon, artificial light and the local horizon. Morning: darkness ends 05:20, sunrise 06:48.
Times in Europe/Athens (GMT+2, UTC+2). This zone observes daylight saving time; no change in the next eight days.
Moon tonight
Fri 6 NovAstronomy
- Phase
- Waning Crescent · 5% lit
- Next moonrise
- Sun 8 Nov, 05:57 · east-southeast
- Next moonset
- Sat 7 Nov, 15:57 · west-southwest
- During the dark hours
- Above the horizon 5% of the time, up to 3°
- Next full Moon
- 24 November 2026
- Next new Moon
- 9 November 2026
The Moon is less than 15% lit, so its effect is reduced, not necessarily absent.
Milky Way core
Galactic centre in SagittariusAstronomy
- Tonight
- 18:45–18:53, highest 6° in the southwest
- Highest point possible here
- 25° above the horizon
- Best months (dark-hours window)
- Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug
- Moonlight tonight
- Bright-Moon warning not triggered; check Moon timing above
The window needs astronomical darkness and the core at least 5° up. Core positions include refraction and are sampled each minute; these are timing estimates, not guaranteed visibility. Hills, trees and town glow near the horizon can still hide it.
Planets tonight
Above the horizon vs. easy to seeAstronomy
- MercuryUp tonight, but low or only in twilight
- VenusUp tonight, but low or only in twilight
- MarsFavourable geometry · best 05:45, 65° southeast
- JupiterFavourable geometry · best 05:45, 61° southeast
- SaturnFavourable geometry · best 21:45, 55° south
"Favourable geometry" means at least 10° up while the Sun is 12° or more below the horizon. Cloud, Moon and local obstructions are not included; positions are sampled every 15 minutes.
Meteor showers
Tonight · OrionidsForecast
Skip tonight
- Radiant
- 41° high in the east
- Ideal peak rate (ZHR)
- 20/hr — ideal conditions at peak, not a local count
- Modelled clear-sky rate
- ~0/hr
- Weather-adjusted rate
- ~0/hr
Rates are approximate modelled estimates, not measured or guaranteed counts. Observing windows use 30-minute samples: any start or end is approximate and may differ by almost 30 minutes from a continuous crossing. Radiants use fixed peak positions; daily radiant drift is not modelled. The model assumes a fixed, moderately dark sky; town light can cut what you see well below these figures.
Coming upAstronomy
- Leonidsreference maximum ≈ Wed 18 Nov, 01:45 local · IMO 2026
- Geminidsreference maximum ≈ Mon 14 Dec, 16:00 local · IMO 2026
- Quadrantidsreference maximum ≈ Mon 4 Jan, 05:25 local · IMO 2027
- Lyridsreference maximum ≈ Fri 23 Apr, 04:40 local · IMO 2027
- Eta Aquariidsreference maximum ≈ Thu 6 May, 12:00 local · IMO 2027
Year-specific IMO predictions, not guaranteed or observed peaks. Date-only maxima are not assigned an invented local hour. The rate model above still uses typical annual peak dates and fixed radiant positions; it does not model the published peak ranges or daily radiant drift.
Plan your trip: the next eight evenings
Lowest-cloud evening (weather only): Sat 7 Nov (lowest mean night cloud). The overall recommendation at the top also weighs moonlight and darkness, so it can name a different night. Cloud is shown only where the forecast covers the night. Values come from an eight-day forecast — the later evenings are less certain than the first, so check again close to the date.
| Evening | Sunset | Full dark | Moon | Night cloudForecast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 7 NovLowest cloud | 17:16 | 18:44 | 2% · down | 4% |
| Sun 8 Nov | 17:15 | 18:44 | 0% · down | 17% |
| Mon 9 Nov | 17:15 | 18:43 | 1% · down | Beyond forecast |
| Tue 10 Nov | 17:14 | 18:42 | 3% · down | Beyond forecast |
| Wed 11 Nov | 17:13 | 18:42 | 7% · down | Beyond forecast |
| Thu 12 Nov | 17:12 | 18:41 | 12% · up ≈5% | Beyond forecast |
| Fri 13 Nov | 17:11 | 18:40 | 19% · up ≈14% | Beyond forecast |
| Sat 14 Nov | 17:11 | 18:40 | 27% · up ≈23% | Beyond forecast |
Astronomy only. No weather is given for this selected date. Moon-up percentages are approximate 15-minute samples across astronomical darkness; Milky Way positions include refraction and one-minute sampling, not visibility guarantees.
Santorini through the year
Astronomy on the 15th of each month — not a weather or climate forecast. Each core window uses astronomical darkness and its stated altitude threshold (10°, or a lower 5°/2° threshold when the core stays low). Low-altitude windows are marginal geometry, not equivalent to a 10° window or a visibility recommendation.Astronomy
| Month | Full darkness | Milky Way core in darkness |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 11.0 h | — |
| Feb | 10.2 h | 0.6 h above 10° · up to 14° |
| Mar | 9.2 h | 1.8 h above 10° · up to 21° |
| Apr | 7.8 h | 3.0 h above 10° · up to 24° |
| May | 6.5 h | 4.2 h above 10° · up to 25° |
| Jun | 5.7 h | 5.7 h above 10° · up to 25° |
| Jul | 6.1 h | 4.4 h above 10° · up to 25° |
| Aug | 7.3 h | 3.0 h above 10° · up to 24° |
| Sept | 8.7 h | 1.8 h above 10° · up to 21° |
| Oct | 9.9 h | 0.6 h above 10° · up to 15° |
| Nov | 10.8 h | — |
| Dec | 11.2 h | — |
Santorini: the local guide
Sources are linked below. Tourism descriptions do not confirm current access, closures or safety. Sky calculations use an ideal horizon, not local mountain or building profiles.
On the caldera rim
Oia, Fira and Imerovigli sit on the rim of the caldera, which gives the evening view its volcanic setting over the water.
Source: Greek National Tourism OrganisationExpect company
Visit Greece describes thousands of visitors gathering on rooftops in Oia, Fira and Imerovigli for the sunset panorama. SnapCosmos planning advice: allow extra time and use permitted public viewing areas.
Source: Greek National Tourism OrganisationSpring to autumn — for walking
The tourism organisation recommends its sunset route from spring to autumn and advises hiking early in the morning in the summer heat. That is sightseeing advice; for the night sky, use the darkness and Moon tables below.
Source: Greek National Tourism OrganisationWhy this calculation point: The documented sunset viewpoint. It is a village; no dark-sky status is claimed.
Forecast fetched Sat 7 Nov, 05:06 local time · weather: Live forecast in use. Astronomy: astronomy-engine, twilight on the geometric Sun (USNO convention), times rounded to the nearest minute.