What time should I go outside tonight?

The best window is between the end of astronomical twilight and moonrise (or moonset, if the Moon is already up). Times shown on this page are computed for your saved location and your device's timezone.

Do I need a telescope?

No. The Moon, planets, ISS passes, meteors and the Milky Way core are all naked-eye. Binoculars help for the Moon and Jupiter's moons; a small telescope opens Saturn's rings and Mars' polar cap.

Why are some events missing tonight?

Events only appear when the object is above your horizon during dark hours. In summer at high latitudes some events are skipped because the sky never gets fully dark.

Can I add an event to my calendar?

Yes — every timed event has an 'Add to calendar' link that generates a standard .ics file you can open in Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook.

How accurate are the times?

Sun, Moon and planet times use the same ephemeris (astronomy-engine) that professional planetariums rely on; the error is under one minute for any point on Earth. ISS times depend on the most recent orbital element data and are accurate to a few seconds.

Tonight

Tonight's sky timeline

Every night follows the same shape: sunset, three stages of twilight, a dark window, then dawn — with the Moon, the planets and the ISS crossing it at their own hours. SnapCosmos times that shape to the minute for wherever you are.

The sky right now · Monday 19 October

What is happening in the sky tonight, everywhere

First Quarter at 54% lit. 4 of the five naked-eye planets stand well clear of the Sun tonight, led by Jupiter at magnitude -2.0 in Leo. Mercury and Saturn are on the evening side of the Sun. Jupiter and Mars belong to the morning sky. Venus stays inside twilight. Orionids peaks in 2 days at about 20 meteors an hour under ideal conditions. Planetary Kp is 0.3.

Moon: First Quarter · 54%
Meteor activity: Orionids
Geomagnetic activity: Kp 0.3
Sun's declination: -9.8°
Next December solstice: 21 Dec
Next Full Moon: 26 Oct

Everything above is global: Moon phase, shower peaks, the planetary Kp index and the Sun's declination are the same facts from Oslo, Singapore or Sydney. What none of them can tell you is whether your sky is dark, clear and pointing the right way tonight — that needs your location, and it is what the timeline below fills in.

Moon tonight: 54%
Showers active: 1
Twilight stages: 3
Timeline precision: ±1 min

Location not set

Set a location to time tonight to the minute

Twilight, moonrise, planet transits and ISS passes are all functions of latitude, longitude and time zone. Choose a place and the timeline below fills in with real times you can put in a calendar.

Sunset, civil, nautical and astronomical twilight
Moonrise, moonset and how much light the Moon adds
Planet transits and the altitude each one reaches
Visible ISS passes, with direction and duration

Your choice stays in this browser. Nothing is sent to a SnapCosmos server.

What decides the answer

The order of the night is fixed: Sunset, then civil twilight (bright stars appear), nautical twilight (most constellations), then astronomical darkness. Dawn runs the same sequence in reverse.
Latitude decides how long the dark lasts: Near the equator, twilight is short and darkness runs most of the night. Above about 49° in June the Sun never drops 18° below the horizon and astronomical darkness never arrives at all.
The Moon is the loudest variable: Tonight the Moon is the same phase for everyone, but the hours it spends above your horizon are not. A late-rising Moon can leave several genuinely dark hours before it appears.
Cloud decides whether any of it matters: SnapCosmos weights hourly cloud cover across the dark window rather than the daytime average, because the only clouds that count are the ones overhead when the sky is dark.

How to use tonight's timeline

The strongest viewing usually starts once the Sun is more than 12° below the horizon (the end of nautical twilight) and ends either at moonrise, moonset, or the first hint of dawn — whichever comes first. If a bright Moon is up, that window still works beautifully for planets, the ISS, and the Moon itself.

If you have a single hour tonight, spend it on the top-listed planet or on the next ISS pass. If you have three hours and dark skies, try the Milky Way core once astronomical darkness begins.

Check the score and note the best viewing window listed above.
Dress warmer than you think you need — you'll be still for a while.
Get away from direct light sources; give your eyes 15–20 minutes to adapt.
Face the compass direction listed for tonight's signature event.
Use a red flashlight, not white, to preserve your night vision.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Terms used on this page

Every astronomy term that shows up in tonight's timeline, defined once in plain language.

Altitude: Angle above the horizon, from 0° at the horizon to 90° at the zenith.
Azimuth: Compass direction along the horizon, from 0° (north) through 90° (east), 180° (south) and 270° (west).
Magnitude: How bright an object appears. Lower is brighter — Sirius is −1.4, the faintest naked-eye star is around +6.
Transit / culmination: The moment an object crosses your local meridian and reaches its highest point in the sky.
Kp index: A 0–9 scale of global geomagnetic activity. Higher Kp pushes the aurora further from the poles.
ZHR: Zenithal Hourly Rate — the meteors per hour an observer would count under a perfect dark sky with the radiant overhead.

Times shown in your device's local time. Visibility depends on local weather, terrain and light pollution.Data sources & methodology