Through the night
Hourly Astro Score
☀ Daylight and twilight hours are not scored.
GoodFairPoor
Building tonight's timeline…
Astronomy weather forecasts and astrophotography alerts
Never miss a
clear night.
AstroPlan automatically monitors astronomy conditions at your chosen locations and notifies you when a good observing or imaging opportunity is approaching—so you don’t have to keep checking multiple weather apps.
Explore tonight’s forecast, discover suitable targets and compare how different telescopes and cameras will frame them before imaging or purchasing new equipment.
Choose your observing location to begin
Search for a town or city above, or use your current location for the quickest result.
One place to plan your night
Less time checking. More time observing.
AstroPlan brings the weather, darkness, Moon, targets and equipment planning together, helping you decide whether tonight is worth your time and what to observe or image.
Plan tonight’s session
See when the sky is worth your time
AstroPlan turns several weather and astronomy measurements into a clear view of tonight’s opportunities.
Check conditions for your location →Your AstroScore
See the overall conditions and the weather information behind the score.
Best time tonight
Find the strongest observing or imaging window without interpreting the whole forecast.
Suitable targets
Discover what is visible from your location and when each target is best placed.
Moonlight awareness
Understand how moonlight may affect faint targets before planning your session.
Equipment & framing
Plan the image before choosing the equipment
Preview targets with different telescope and camera combinations, then explore useful product guides when you are considering a purchase.
Open Equipment & Framing →Tonight's forecast
Your selected location
Choose a location to begin
Live forecast
Astro Score right now
--/100
Fetching weather and astronomy data for your location.
Moon impact on your score
Moon impact on AstroScore
Calculating moonlight…
Comparing tonight with equivalent new-Moon conditions.
Moon penalty
-- points
If it were a new Moon
--/100
Best Astro Score tonight--/100Calculating…
Best imaging window
Best imaging window
Calculating…
SunsetMidnightDawn
More weather details
Cloud cover
--Low cloud
--High cloud
--Rain chance
--Wind
--Humidity
--Transparency
--Dew risk
--Light pollution
--Moonlight
--
Analysing the main factors affecting tonight’s score…
Location comparison
Which location looks best?
Your main location and alternatives use the same observing mode and selected target.
Comparing targetM31 — Andromeda GalaxyYour main location
Add an alternative location above to compare skies.
Light-pollution values in this comparison are population-based estimates until a measured sky-brightness dataset is added.
Forecast map
Watch tonight’s weather move
Explore forecast cloud cover or rain around your selected location.
Cloud cover forecastLoading tonight…
Building the forecast map…
LowerHigher
The smooth overlay blends forecast samples around your location. Drag the time control to see how conditions may change through the night, or select the map for a local percentage estimate.
Target planner
What can you photograph tonight?
Choose an object to combine its position in your sky with tonight’s weather, darkness and Moon.
Target score--Select a target
Deep sky
Andromeda Galaxy
Calculating when this target is best placed tonight…
Best imaging window--:--
Highest altitude--
Direction at peak--
Moon separation--
Dark hours above 20°--
Position through the night
Selected target
Loaded at recommended best time--:--
Astronomical duskAstronomical dawn
Planet positions use a low-precision planning calculation. Always confirm framing in your telescope or planetarium app before travelling.
Tonight’s opportunities
Best targets tonight
Ranked using darkness, altitude, weather and Moon separation for your selected location.
Ranking tonight’s targets…
Moon tonight
Calculating phase…
Moonlight can affect faint deep-sky targets. We’ll show its likely impact tonight.
Illumination--
Altitude now--
Moonrise--
Moonset--
Darkness
Tonight's dark-sky window
Astronomical dusk--:--
Astronomical dawn--:--
Sunset --:--Sunrise --:--
Calculated for this exact location using the Sun at 18° below the horizon.
Moon calendar
Plan around the Moon
See illumination through the next four weeks. Lower values generally favour faint deep-sky targets.
Plan ahead
Your 7-night astronomy forecast
Compare each night at a glance. Forecasts become more reliable as the night approaches.
Loading the week ahead…
Let AstroPlan watch the forecast for you.
Create a free account, save your observing locations and receive a notification when a promising astronomy opportunity is approaching.
Create a free account →
01
Automated forecast checks
Let AstroPlan keep checking your chosen observing locations.
02
Your alert threshold
Choose the AstroScore that makes a night worthwhile for you. AstroPlan monitors the weather, darkness and Moon conditions and notifies you when the forecast reaches it.
03
Timely notifications
Receive a notification when a promising observing or imaging opportunity is forecast.