Tonight ·
A friendly almanac for new stargazers: what the Moon is doing, which meteor shower is next, and how to find your way around the constellations with nothing more than your eyes.
Coming up
Next meteor shower
Peak night Nov 17–18 · in 12 days
Up to 15 meteors an hour under ideal skies. Normally modest, but produced true meteor storms in 1833, 1966 and 1999–2002.
Good Moon 55% lit at the peak. The Moon sets before the best pre-dawn hours.
Also active now: Orionids.
All showers →In season this month
Well placed in the early evening from mid-northern latitudes.
All constellations →Moon phases ahead
New moon weeks are best for faint galaxies and the Milky Way.
Moon calendar →Start here
Even a park or the edge of town beats a lit street. Turn your back on the nearest lights.
Night vision builds slowly. One glance at a white phone screen resets the clock.
Red light barely disturbs dark adaptation. This site has a red mode: tap the eye icon.
The Big Dipper, Orion and the Summer Triangle will lead you to almost everything else.
The almanac
Today’s phase, a month calendar and upcoming full and new moons, calculated live.
Six star patterns for each season, with charts and tips for finding them.
Every major shower with its next peak and how much the Moon will interfere.
Dark adaptation, binoculars, your first telescope and the Bortle scale.