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Stargazing conditions tonight

How dark tonight gets, when the Moon is out of the way, and what will limit faint objects. Darkness and moonlight are calculated; weather is not on the website yet.

Is tonight good for stargazing in London?

Excellent for darkness tonight in London: the sky is dark with the Moon down or only a thin crescent from 20:20 to 05:17 (9.0 h). The Moon is 24% lit. This rating covers darkness and moonlight only; check a local forecast for clouds.

Calculated for Mon, 5 Oct 2026 · London, United Kingdom

Times for London, United Kingdom

Best window (dark, no Moon)
20:20–05:179.0 hours
Full darkness
20:20–05:17
Moon
24% litWaning crescent · rises 01:40, sets 16:38
Clouds
Not checkedWeather isn’t on the website yet

What limits tonight

Nothing astronomical: a long, moonless dark window. Clouds, haze and local light pollution still decide what you actually see.

The rating is a plain word from the hours of dark, moonless sky: excellent from 5 hours, good from 3, fair from 1. It never includes a hidden score. How this is calculated.

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How SkyMate knows

Darkness comes from the Sun’s altitude: full astronomical darkness starts when the Sun is 18° below the horizon. Moonlight comes from the Moon’s phase and its altitude through the night, sampled every few minutes. The best window is the longest stretch of full darkness with the Moon below the horizon, or only a thin crescent (under 25% lit).

Clouds, transparency and seeing are not on the website yet, so this page never claims a clear night. The SkyMate app combines darkness and moonlight with your local forecast.

Data: astronomy-engine (MIT). How visibility is calculated · Astronomy data · Sources and licences

Related questions

What makes a good night for stargazing?
A clear, dry sky, full darkness, and the Moon either below the horizon or a thin crescent. Distance from city lights matters as much as the date: a dark site shows many more stars than a suburb on the same night.
Does a full Moon ruin stargazing?
A bright Moon washes out faint galaxies, nebulae and the Milky Way, and reduces the number of meteors you see. The Moon itself, planets, double stars and bright star clusters are still good targets on moonlit nights.
When is the darkest time of night?
Between the end of astronomical twilight in the evening and its start before dawn, when the Sun is more than 18° below the horizon. Near midsummer at high latitudes, the sky never gets that dark.