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Tonight's sky

What is in the sky tonight in London?

As of 6 October 2026, 01:17 UTC, the time of MET Norway's forecast, the best window for looking up tonight in London is 03:00 to 04:00 local time. The Moon is a waning crescent, 22 percent lit, and is up all night. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are well placed in the dark, and no ISS pass is sunlit while the sky is dark. Local times are Europe/London (UTC+01:00).

Forecast time 6 October 2026, 01:17 UTC.

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What this means

• The night lasts 4 h 52 min, from 02:17 (the Sun was already down at the forecast time) to sunrise at 07:09.
• The best window is 03:00 to 04:00: the Moon, 22 percent lit, is up through the window.
• The Moon is a waning crescent, 22 percent lit, and is up all night.
• Jupiter is the brightest planet well placed in the dark tonight (magnitude -1.9), highest in the dark at 06:27, 38 degrees up in the east-southeast; 2 more planets are well placed too.
• The ISS does not pass at least 10 degrees up during tonight's window.

Cloud forecast: MET Norway's, not ours. Data from The Norwegian Meteorological Institute, shortened MET Norway, licensed under NLOD 2.0 and CC BY 4.0.

See also: all six cities, the ISS today, aurora tonight, all live numbers right now, Moon phases, planet events, meteor showers.

When is it dark and clear tonight in London?

Tonight runs from 02:17, the forecast time (the Sun had already set) to sunrise at 07:09: 4 h 52 min. Cloud averages 83 percent over these hours, from 76 to 100 percent. The forecast is mostly cloudy all night. How the viewing score works.

Where is the Moon tonight?

The Moon is a waning crescent and 22 percent lit at 04:45. It is above the horizon all night. It is highest at 07:02, 44° up in the southeast. New, first quarter, full and last quarter each cover about 22.5 degrees of the cycle; crescent and gibbous cover about 67.5 degrees each. So "first quarter" here means 40 to 60 percent lit, and another almanac may name the night differently.

Which planets are up tonight?

Mercury is below the horizon all night; it is not up while the sky is dark. Venus is below the horizon all night; it is not up while the sky is dark. Mars is up all night; while up in a dark sky it is highest at 06:27, 51° in the southeast. Jupiter is up all night; while up in a dark sky it is highest at 06:27, 38° in the east-southeast. Saturn is up at the start, sets at 06:59; while up in a dark sky it is highest at 02:17, 37° in the south-southwest. Well placed means at least 15° up in a dark sky at magnitude 3 or brighter (lower is brighter).

What does the sky look like at 04:45?

Figures drawn: Auriga, Orion, Canis Minor, Taurus, Gemini, Ursa Major, Perseus, Ursa Minor, Aries, Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Draco. Brightest named stars up: Sirius, Vega, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Betelgeuse, Aldebaran, Pollux, Deneb, Regulus and Adhara.

When does the ISS pass over London tonight?

The ISS does not pass at least 10° above the horizon of London between 02:17 and 07:09 (element set of 5 October 2026, 19:42 UTC).

How this page is made

Computed, not observed: the Sun, Moon and planets with astronomy-engine, the ISS with SGP4 from CelesTrak's element set; the cloud is MET Norway's forecast. Published only while that forecast is under 6 hours old. Method and what was checked.

Questions

When is the best time to look at the stars in London tonight?

03:00 to 04:00 local time by our viewing score; a score, not a promise.

What phase is the Moon tonight?

Waning crescent, 22 percent lit at 04:45.

Which planets are up tonight from London?

Mars (highest 51° at 06:27), Jupiter (highest 38° at 06:27) and Saturn (highest 37° at 02:17).

When can I see the ISS from London tonight?

No pass tonight is sunlit in a dark sky by our calculation.

Sources

• MET Norway Locationforecast. The hourly cloud forecast (total cloud cover for all heights). Data from The Norwegian Meteorological Institute, shortened MET Norway
• astronomy-engine. The MIT licensed library that computes the Sun, Moon and planets, and their rise and set times
• CelesTrak current GP data. The ISS element set (NORAD 25544)
• ESA Hipparcos and Tycho catalogues. The stars on the chart come from the app's Hipparcos-based catalogue, whose provenance is not recorded. ESA's page gives CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO and Credit: ESA; which licence applies to this exact file is NOT CONFIRMED
• IAU Catalog of Star Names. The star names on the chart and in its table. IAU products are released under Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY), as the file's header states
• d3-celestial. The constellation stick figures on the chart (one common way of joining the stars, not the IAU's). Its data licence is not stated: NOT CONFIRMED
• IAU constellations. The constellation names on the chart and in its tables