Wed 11 November · London

A dark-sky window opens.

Properly dark 18:12–05:17 · 11h 4m

waxing crescent · 6% lit · 11h 4m of moon-free darkness

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How we’d play it

A genuinely dark window — galaxies and nebulae are on the menu, and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are well-placed for the eyepiece. The kind of night we plan a full session around.

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Worth looking at

  • MarsBest 05:17High in the southeast — 51° just before dawn (05:17), still rising as the sky brightens.
  • JupiterBest 05:17High in the southeast — 50° just before dawn (05:17), still rising as the sky brightens.
  • SaturnBest 21:12Well-placed in the evening (around 21:12) — 40° in the south.
  • VenusBest 07:13Low in the southeast, still climbing when the sky brightens at 07:13 — only 18°, a bright twilight object.
  • MercuryBest 07:13Just catchable low before dawn in the southeast — a tricky one.
Twilight stages & sun times +
  • Sunset16:16
  • Civil twilight ends16:53
  • Nautical twilight ends17:33
  • Fully dark18:12
  • First light05:17
  • Nautical twilight (dawn)05:56
  • Civil twilight (dawn)06:36
  • Sunrise07:13

All times GMT (local). Moon-free windows: 18:12–05:17.

Not tonight?

Darker nights suit galaxies and nebulae. The Moon thins out toward the end of the week.

  1. Tonight10%
  2. Sat5%
  3. Sun1%
  4. Mon0%
  5. Tue1%
  6. Wed4%
  7. Thu8%

Coming up

  • Leonids meteor showerTue 17 November · Peak night. Fast and bright, ~15/hour.in 6 days
  • Geminids meteor showerMon 14 December · Peak night. The year’s best — up to ~120/hour, bright and slow.in 5 weeks
  • Quadrantids meteor showerSun 3 January · Peak night. Sharp peak, up to ~40/hour — brief but rich.in 8 weeks
  • 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 12 weeks
  • Penumbral lunar eclipseSat 20 February · A shadow crosses part of the Moon — visible wherever the Moon is up at the time.in 14 weeks
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We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.

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