Night Sky Alert
Star trails circling the celestial pole above a volcano, crossed by the straight line of a space station pass
Tonight in Baiyin, China · More in China →
26 OUT OF 100

Maybe

Baiyin night sky · Sat, Oct 17, dark 19:20–6:16 GMT+8
Clouds
55%average tonight
Moon
39%Waxing Crescent
Aurora
Kp 2.7need Kp 9+
Space station
5:3058° high · SW→NE
  • Aurora unlikely. Tonight's forecast peaks at Kp 2.7. From here you'd usually need about Kp 9, which takes a rare, extreme storm.
  • Space station passes at 5:30, up to 58° high, moving SW → NE. It looks like a bright, steady star that crosses the sky in a few minutes.
  • Moon 39% lit (Waxing Crescent), above the horizon for 32% of the dark hours.
  • Clouds: about 55% effective cover during dark hours.

Updated 27 min ago. Times in Asia/Shanghai (GMT+8).

Photo: Benedikt Markus · CC BY-SA 4.0

Clouds tonight
17:00clouds, % of sky7:00
Aurora reach
Kp 9+ needed
Magnetic latitude 32.7° N, too far from either auroral zone in all but the rarest storms. Tonight's forecast peak: Kp 2.7. Live map →
Moon
39% lit
Waxing Crescent. Up for 32% of dark hours.
Next meteor peak
Orionids
Peak night Oct 21–22 · Moon 82% lit

Next visible space station passes

When (GMT+8)HighestPath
Sun, Oct 18, 5:2658°SW → NE

Visible passes only: station sunlit, your sky dark. Computed from CelesTrak orbital data.

Launches within view

LaunchWhen (GMT+8)Distance
Long March 4B | Unknown PayloadSat, Oct 24, 2:00594 km
Long March 12A | Flight 2Sat, Oct 31, 8:00592 km

Launches within 1,000 km in the coming days. Night and twilight launches are the ones to watch. Data: The Space Devs.

Free alerts

Get a heads-up when it's worth going out

One email when your sky is genuinely worth it: an aurora within reach, a launch you can see, a clear peak night. Nothing on ordinary nights. We'll confirm your address first, and you can unsubscribe in one click.

Nearby

Baiyin, China · 36.55°, 104.17° · population 294,400 (GeoNames). The score is an estimate; here's how it's made.