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
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.
Plan a night with us →Worth looking at
- MarsBest 05:17High in the southeast — 51° just before dawn (05:17), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 22:59sets 13:46highest 05:17 (51°)
- JupiterBest 05:17High in the southeast — 50° just before dawn (05:17), still rising as the sky brightens.rises 23:12sets 13:41highest 05:17 (50°)
- SaturnBest 21:12Well-placed in the evening (around 21:12) — 40° in the south.rises 15:04sets 03:20highest 21:12 (40°)
- VenusBest 07:13Low in the southeast, still climbing when the sky brightens at 07:13 — only 18°, a bright twilight object.rises 04:48sets 15:03highest 07:13 (18°)
- MercuryBest 07:13Just catchable low before dawn in the southeast — a tricky one.rises 05:44sets 15:52highest 07:13 (12°)
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.
Sun, Moon & planet altitude +
Altitude across the night (GMT), 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
- 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
Show essentials
We bring the telescope, and we read the sky for you — so the night lands on the right hour.
Get in touch →