Night Sky Alert
Tonight in Charleston, South Carolina · More in United States →
33 OUT OF 100

MaybeCharleston night sky · Fri, Oct 16, dark 7:38 PM–6:31 AM EDT

  • Aurora unlikely. Tonight's forecast peaks at Kp 3.3. From here you'd usually need about Kp 9, which takes a rare, extreme storm.
  • Space station passes at 5:04 AM, up to 57° high, moving SW → NE. It looks like a bright, steady star that crosses the sky in a few minutes.
  • Moon 35% lit (Waxing Crescent), above the horizon for 32% of the dark hours.
  • Clouds: about 42% effective cover during dark hours.

Updated just now. Times in America/New York (EDT).

Clouds tonight
11:00 PMclouds, % of sky7:00 AM
Aurora reach
Kp 9+ needed
Magnetic latitude 42.2° N, too far from either auroral zone in all but the rarest storms. Tonight's forecast peak: Kp 3.3. Live map →
Moon
35% 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 (EDT)HighestPath
Sat, Oct 17, 5:00 AM57°SW → NE
Sat, Oct 17, 6:39 AM14°NW → N

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

Launches within view

LaunchWhen (EDT)Distance
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Bandwagon 5 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)Mon, Oct 19, 6:30 AM294 mi
Vulcan VC6L | Amazon Leo (LV-01)Wed, Oct 28, 8:00 PM292 mi
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cygnus CRS-2 NG-25Sun, Nov 29, 7:00 PM294 mi
Falcon 9 Block 5 | SDA Tranche 2 Transport Layer DWed, Dec 30, 7:00 PM301 mi
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Telesat Lightspeed 1Wed, Dec 30, 7:00 PM301 mi

Launches within 621 mi in the coming days. Night and twilight launches are the ones to watch. Data: The Space Devs.

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Nearby

Charleston, South Carolina, United States · 32.78°, -79.93° · population 132,609 (GeoNames). The score is an estimate; here's how it's made.