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Tonight · Sun, 11 October 2026

Aoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo) stargazing forecast tonight

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

44.005°S 170.479°E ·710 m ·Canterbury, New Zealand

NearbyQueenstown
70
/100
Good conditions
at peak

Worth setting up — 7 hours of workable sky from 22:00.

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.

See target outlook ↓Planet observing times →
Best months at Aoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo), Canterbury →Moonless nights →
Tonight in context · local sky & season

October historically: 3.2 qualifying nights/month on average (2005–2024). Regional cloud and darkness history, not tonight’s probability or a comparison with the conditions score.

A qualifying historical night has at least 3 hours of astronomical darkness and mean nighttime cloud ≤30%. This does not measure steady air or target visibility. Seasonal history →

Saturn: about 7.3h 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
22:00 – 05:00
Window quality
48 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
22:00 – 06:00
Moon
Waxing crescent, 1%
Transparency at peak
0.47
Seeing at peak (est.)
0.90
Visual limit (modelled)
5.5–7.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Transparency

Transparency 0.47 — haze and water vapour will cost you the faintest targets. What this means →

The night, hour by hour

Colour = score · Luminance = everything else
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
29
70
60
35
37
50
46
39
32
11
Score
BEST WINDOW · 8 H
Low cloud
4%
13%
6%
11%
31%
27%
19%
23%
31%
38%
37%
38%
Mid cloud
13%
13%
1%
1%
2%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.62
0.54
0.47
0.38
0.35
0.33
0.34
0.32
0.29
0.27
0.26
0.24
Seeing
0.83
0.93
0.90
0.91
0.91
0.87
0.84
0.82
0.81
0.81
0.79
0.80
Moon clear
1%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
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
22 Good · 70/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−8
Transparency
−20
Seeing
−2
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
70
CLOUD 6% LOW 6% MID 1% HIGH 0% SUN -21.3° MOON -10.5° / 1% WIND 3 TEMP 11°
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 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–05:00 · 7H · MEAN 48

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

202200020406
ASTRONOMICAL DARK FROM 22:00
SET UP 20:30 · OBSERVE 21:00–06:00 · 9H · MEAN 53

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

202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 00:30 · OBSERVE 01:00–05:00 · 4H · MEAN 41

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

202200020406
SET UP 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–00:00 · 2H · MEAN 53

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

202200020406
ASTRONOMICAL DARK FROM 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 00:00
SET UP 00:30 · OBSERVE 01:00–05:00 · 4H · MEAN 42

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

202200020406

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

Siding Spring Observatory

2,346 km away · Natural-dark sky · 21.9–21.9 mag/arcsec²

94conditions tonight
See the trade-off →
Latest verified night · 2026-10-08

Prediction, meet observation.

All comparisons →
1 match7 discrepanciesSatellite saw 93.0 points less cloud.
HIMAWARI cloud mask · ~13h reference7 of 8 sampled hours diverged.Cloud only · 8 astronomically dark hours

Recent cloud comparisons · 30 recorded nights →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 11 Oct
70
Good
MOON 1%
22:00–05:00
Tomorrow · 12 Oct
66
Good
MOON 4%
22:00–06:00
Tuesday · 13 Oct
1
Not worth it

Cloud or fog is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 7%
Wednesday · 14 Oct
44
Fair
MOON 15%
01:00–02:00
Thursday · 15 Oct
0
Not worth it

Cloud or fog is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 22%
Friday · 16 Oct
0
Not worth it

Cloud or fog is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 31%
Saturday · 17 Oct
16
Poor

Cloud or fog is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 40%

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

Tonight · 11 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
29
70
60
35
37
50
46
39
32
11
Score
Low cloud
4%
13%
6%
11%
31%
27%
19%
23%
31%
38%
37%
38%
Mid cloud
13%
13%
1%
1%
2%
2%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.62
0.54
0.47
0.38
0.35
0.33
0.34
0.32
0.29
0.27
0.26
0.24
Seeing
0.83
0.93
0.90
0.91
0.91
0.87
0.84
0.82
0.81
0.81
0.79
0.80
Moon clear
1%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07

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

Tomorrow · 12 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
33
60
54
46
51
58
58
62
66
18
Score
Low cloud
1%
4%
12%
15%
28%
23%
15%
13%
8%
7%
22%
19%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.60
0.50
0.45
0.43
0.45
0.46
0.46
0.43
0.40
0.42
0.45
0.50
Seeing
0.78
0.80
0.77
0.71
0.71
0.72
0.76
0.77
0.76
0.79
0.85
0.85
Moon clear
3%
4%
4%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07

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
1
Score
Low cloud
96%
86%
100%
Mid cloud
91%
91%
100%
High cloud
46%
91%
100%
Transparency
0.62
0.28
0.21
Seeing
0.81
0.92
0.94
Moon clear
8%
down
down
19
01
07

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
44
Score
Low cloud
91%
33%
100%
Mid cloud
95%
2%
1%
High cloud
93%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.24
0.16
0.14
Seeing
0.98
1.00
0.91
Moon clear
13%
down
down
19
01
07

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
Score
Low cloud
100%
99%
100%
Mid cloud
100%
100%
80%
High cloud
59%
77%
9%
Transparency
0.24
0.23
0.24
Seeing
0.75
0.97
1.00
Moon clear
21%
22%
down
19
01
07

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
Score
Low cloud
100%
100%
100%
Mid cloud
5%
2%
1%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.39
0.35
0.45
Seeing
0.80
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
29%
31%
down
19
01
07

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

Saturday · 17 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
16
Score
Low cloud
18%
73%
98%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.65
0.18
0.16
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
37%
40%
down
19
01
07

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

Planning a trip?

Compare the next eight weekends → · Best months to visit → · Moonless nights →

About this forecast

Exact-coordinate weather, sky geometry and site context.

Full method →20-year baseline →
Sources and scoring details openclose

Conditions for Aoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo), Canterbury, New Zealand 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.