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Tonight · Sun, 11 October 2026

Ali Observatory stargazing forecast tonight

Hourly clear-sky conditions for observing: cloud by layer, transparency, estimated seeing, moonlight and true astronomical darkness.

32.317°N 80.017°E ·5100 m ·Tibet, China
96
/100
Excellent conditions
at peak

A genuinely good night — 6 hours of clear, dark sky from 02:00.

Site darkness · peer measure
Natural-dark skyNot multiplied into the conditions score
21.8–21.9 mag/arcsec²

The score describes tonight’s conditions. Site darkness helps you choose what to observe.

Tonight in context · local sky & season

Saturn: about 9.0h above 20° during this observing night’s darkness. Longest sampled dark-time opportunity among our four planet targets; not a weather ranking. Planet times →

Position calculations use roughly 20-minute samples. Clouds, skyglow and local obstructions still matter. Milky Way timing →

Best window
02:00 – 08:00
Window quality
81 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
02:00 – 08:00
Moon
New moon, 0%
Transparency at peak
0.91
Seeing at peak (est.)
1.00
Visual limit (modelled)
6.0–7.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Nothing much

No single factor is holding this night back. Go out.

The night, hour by hour

Colour = score · Luminance = everything else
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
95
96
65
53
81
93
26
Score
BEST WINDOW · 7 H
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
1%
1%
20%
44%
11%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
2%
0%
31%
13%
5%
0%
3%
10%
Transparency
0.93
0.91
0.87
0.83
0.82
0.82
0.84
0.84
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
Inspect

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Score inspectorWhy this hour scored what it did Open peakClose
03 Excellent · 96/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−1
Transparency
−4
Seeing
−0
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
96
CLOUD 1% LOW 0% MID 1% HIGH 0% SUN -63.3° MOON -68.2° / 0% WIND 2 TEMP -6°
Excellent 75+ Good 55+ Fair 35+ Poor 15+ Not worth it Seeing is estimated from surface wind — see how we score.

What can you actually do tonight?

This is GoodSeeing’s decision layer: the same forecast is weighted for your target and site darkness. Planetary work barely cares about moonlight; long exposures can fail on high cloud a visual observer would barely notice. Your choice is remembered on this device and becomes the default for new alert rules.

SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–08:00 · 6H · MEAN 78

Darkness and moonlight dominate. Faint fuzzies need a genuinely dark sky more than they need steady air.

02040608
TWILIGHT BEGINS 08:00
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–09:00 · 7H · MEAN 81

Seeing is everything and moonlight is irrelevant. Bright targets punch through twilight, so darkness barely counts.

02040608
TWILIGHT BEGINS 09:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–08:00 · 6H · MEAN 77

Tolerates soft seeing, but high cloud wrecks a wide frame and moonlight raises the background everywhere.

02040608
TWILIGHT BEGINS 08:00
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–08:00 · 6H · MEAN 71

Needs conditions to hold still for hours. Sustained transparency matters more than any single good hour.

02040608
TWILIGHT BEGINS 08:00
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–08:00 · 6H · MEAN 77

Naked eye, whole sky. Total cloud and moonlight are the only things that count.

02040608
TWILIGHT BEGINS 08:00

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

Hanle (Indian Astronomical Observatory)

111 km away · Natural-dark sky · 21.9–21.9 mag/arcsec²

95conditions tonight
See the trade-off →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 10 Oct
97
Excellent
MOON 0%
01:00–08:00
Tomorrow · 11 Oct
93
Excellent
MOON 2%
22:00–08:00
Monday · 12 Oct
94
Excellent
MOON 5%
22:00–08:00
Tuesday · 13 Oct
85
Excellent
MOON 9%
02:00–03:00
Wednesday · 14 Oct
92
Excellent
MOON 17%
02:00–03:00
Thursday · 15 Oct
96
Excellent
MOON 24%
02:00–03:00
Friday · 16 Oct
59
Good
MOON 33%
02:00–03:00

Open a night for its forecast times. Later forecasts may have wider time steps; missing hours are not interpolated.

Tonight · 10 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
97
95
96
65
53
81
93
26
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
1%
1%
20%
44%
11%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
1%
2%
0%
31%
13%
5%
0%
3%
10%
Transparency
0.92
0.93
0.91
0.87
0.83
0.82
0.82
0.84
0.84
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Tomorrow · 11 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
32
90
93
93
93
93
93
87
89
91
90
26
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
2%
Mid cloud
5%
5%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
6%
5%
1%
0%
0%
1%
High cloud
42%
22%
10%
3%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.98
0.97
0.95
0.87
0.83
0.83
0.82
0.82
0.83
0.81
0.78
0.75
0.74
0.74
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
1%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Monday · 12 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
27
94
91
83
87
90
90
91
91
90
88
27
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
2%
2%
3%
Mid cloud
43%
34%
3%
3%
8%
6%
3%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
High cloud
24%
8%
2%
3%
9%
2%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.98
0.97
0.95
0.88
0.85
0.83
0.81
0.80
0.80
0.79
0.78
0.76
0.76
0.76
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
4%
4%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Tuesday · 13 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
85
21
Score
Low cloud
1%
5%
17%
Mid cloud
8%
2%
9%
High cloud
5%
1%
0%
Transparency
0.99
0.77
0.72
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
9%
down
down
20
02
08

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Wednesday · 14 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
92
30
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
2%
3%
2%
High cloud
0%
1%
0%
Transparency
1.00
0.88
0.82
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
15%
down
down
20
02
08

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Thursday · 15 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
96
30
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
2%
0%
0%
High cloud
5%
0%
7%
Transparency
1.00
0.93
0.78
Seeing
0.93
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
22%
down
down
20
02
08

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Friday · 16 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
59
27
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
26%
45%
14%
High cloud
24%
2%
16%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
0.88
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
31%
down
down
20
02
08

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

About this forecast

Exact-coordinate weather, sky geometry and site context.

Sources and scoring details openclose

Conditions for Ali Observatory, Tibet, China are computed from the MET Norway forecast model for these exact coordinates, combined with sun and moon positions we calculate directly. The score weighs cloud cover by layer, atmospheric transparency, estimated seeing, moonlight and astronomical twilight. Site darkness is shown separately, then used only where artificial skyglow physically changes moon contrast, haze scattering, visual limits and target suitability.