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Is It Worth Going Out Tonight?

Get tonight's stargazing score for your location across 25 European countries, and sign up for free alerts so you never miss a clear night.

Enter your postcode or zip code

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Never miss a clear night

We'll check the forecast every day and email you when conditions are worth going out for.

Enter your email and we'll alert you whenever stargazing conditions score 7 or higher for your area. One email per good night, that's it.

Checking the skies above you…

out of 10

Tonight's Cloud Cover, Hour by Hour

What's in the Sky Tonight

Your Sky Right Now

A live view of what's above your horizon right now: stars, constellations, the Moon, and planets. North is at the top.

Get notified when conditions are this good

How the Score Works

We pull live weather data for your exact location and combine it with astronomical conditions to give you a single, honest number.

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Cloud Cover

40%

Hourly cloud forecast from Open-Meteo, because even one clear window matters.

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Moon Phase

25%

New Moon scores highest. A bright gibbous Moon washes out faint objects.

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Light Pollution

15%

Bortle scale estimate for your area: rural darkness vs city glow. See our UK dark sky sites map for the darkest spots near you.

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Events

10%

Meteor showers, comets, conjunctions: is there something special to see?

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Transparency

10%

Humidity and aerosols: how crisp the atmosphere is for deep-sky viewing.

What's visible tonight from the UK?

The planets on show change week to week: some are evening objects, some only appear before dawn, and a couple are sitting too close to the Sun to see at all. The sky map above shows exactly what's over your horizon right now, including the Moon and any visible planets.

For a written rundown (which planets are visible tonight, where to look, and the week's best events), see our UK night sky this week guide, updated every Sunday. Meteor shower dates are in the meteor showers calendar, and satellite passes, including the International Space Station, are worth a look too. If the sky's putting on a different kind of show, check our live UK aurora forecast, and see our astronomy events calendar for everything else worth diarising through 2026 and 2027.

Got a clear night coming? Make the most of it.

Kit we've tested and reviewed in full

Even a basic pair of binoculars transforms what you can see. A small telescope takes you to Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moons.

Best first telescope

Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P

4.6Full review

Saturn's rings, Jupiter's moons, lunar craters. Compact enough to grab on a whim when the score goes green.

~£194

Buy at FLO

Start with binoculars

Celestron SkyMaster Pro 15×70

4.5Full review

Jupiter's moons in a line. Venus as a crescent disc. The Milky Way resolved into individual stars. A big step up from naked eye for not much money.

~£229

Buy at FLO

Equipment guides

Telescopes, binoculars, mounts, cameras, and accessories: honest picks for every budget.

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Affiliate links: you pay the same price, we earn a small commission that helps keep WatchTheStars free.

Not going out tonight?

Explore our sky guides, learn the constellations, or dive into the Solar System. New to all this? Start with our stargazing for beginners guide, or browse our binoculars reviews for the easiest first upgrade.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it a full moon tonight?

On most nights, no: the Moon is only properly full for about a day in each 29.5-day cycle. Enter your postcode in the Sky Score tool above and it gives tonight's exact phase and how much of the disc is lit, worked out live for your location. For the full picture, including moonrise, moonset and the date of the next full Moon, use our Moon phase tonight page. A bright Moon is not a wasted night either, because the Moon itself and the brighter planets shine straight through it.

How do I know if the Moon will spoil my stargazing tonight?

Moon phase makes up 25% of the Sky Score, so a low score on an otherwise clear night usually means moonlight. The Moon card shows the phase, the percentage lit, and how many hours it is actually above the horizon during the evening. A nearly full Moon that sets early matters far less than a half Moon that is up all night.

Is there a meteor shower tonight?

The tool checks for active showers automatically and lists anything running in the What's in the Sky Tonight section. Across the year the UK gets around a dozen, with the Perseids in mid-August and the Geminids in mid-December the two strongest. Our meteor shower calendar carries the peak dates for each one.

What can I see in the night sky tonight?

Put your postcode in above and you get the planets that are up, the Moon's phase and any active meteor showers for your location tonight, plus a live map of what is over your horizon. Which planets are visible changes through the year, so it is worth checking rather than guessing.

What can I see tonight without a telescope?

Quite a lot: the Moon, whichever bright planets are up, and several dozen constellations are all naked-eye objects. The Milky Way needs a genuinely dark site, so most UK gardens at Bortle 5 to 7 will not show it. Binoculars are the cheapest real upgrade and bring in Jupiter's moons, star clusters and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Is tonight a good night for stargazing?

The Sky Score gives you a single number from 1 to 10, built from live cloud cover, Moon phase, light pollution, active events and atmospheric transparency. Seven or above is a genuinely good night, and it is the threshold our free email alerts use. Below about three it is usually not worth going out, though the Moon and bright planets often cut through when fainter things will not.