GoodSeeing
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Christchurch

-43.533° S   172.633° E  ·  14 M
51 /100
PEAK
Marginal, but there is a 3 hours gap from 04:00.
BEST WINDOW 04:00–07:00 · ASTRO DARK 04:00–06:00 · MOON 0%
Transparency
0.35
Seeing
0.66
Cloud
21%
Moon
0%

Fair tonight

Hour by hour, local to Christchurch. Colour encodes the score and nothing else; every other measurement is luminance.

Sky state
Lighter = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
Score
04
05
06
07
51
45
36
0
BEST WINDOW
Low cloud
14%
9%
8%
7%
Mid cloud
13%
26%
36%
59%
High cloud
0%
7%
4%
15%
Transparency
0.35
0.34
0.34
0.37
Seeing
0.60
0.65
0.66
0.73
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
Inspect

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

Why this hour scored what it did
04 Fair · 51/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−24
Transparency
−20
Seeing
−6
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
51
CLOUD 21% LOW 14% MID 13% HIGH 0% SUN -38.0° MOON -39.4° / 0% WIND 6 TEMP 10°
Excellent 75+ Good 55+ Fair 35+ Poor 15+ Not worth it Seeing is estimated from surface wind — see how we score.

What are you doing tonight?

The same forecast, weighted for the target. Planetary work barely cares about moonlight; long exposures die on high cloud a visual observer would never notice.

SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–07:00 · 3H · MEAN 45

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 07:00
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–07:00 · 3H · MEAN 49

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 07:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–07:00 · 3H · MEAN 44

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 07:00
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–05:00 · 1H · MEAN 40

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

0406
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–07:00 · 3H · MEAN 47

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 07:00
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The next week of nights

Tonight · 12 Aug
51
Fair
MOON 0%
04:00–07:00
Tomorrow · 13 Aug
65
Good
MOON 1%
20:00–05:00
Friday · 14 Aug
2
Clouded out
MOON 4%
Saturday · 15 Aug
34
Poor
MOON 8%
Sunday · 16 Aug
58
Good
MOON 17%
00:00–01:00
Monday · 17 Aug
51
Fair
MOON 25%
00:00–01:00
Tuesday · 18 Aug
50
Fair
MOON 35%
00:00–01:00
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Nearby locations

About this forecast

Conditions for Christchurch, 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 how dark the sky actually gets. Read the full method →