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Tonight · Sat, 10 October 2026

Cosmic Campground stargazing forecast tonight

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

33.479°N 108.921°W ·1400 m ·New Mexico, United States

NearbyOro ValleyCatalina FoothillsGallupCasas AdobesMore nearby
75
/100
Excellent conditions
at peak

A genuinely good night — 8 hours of clear, dark sky from 23:00.

Site darkness · peer measure
Natural-dark skyNot multiplied into the conditions score
21.9–21.9 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 Cosmic Campground, New Mexico →Moonless nights →
Tonight in context · local sky & season

October historically: 20.9 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 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
23:00 – 07:00
Window quality
62 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
21:00 – 06:00
Moon
New moon, 1%
Transparency at peak
0.44
Seeing at peak (est.)
0.85
Visual limit (modelled)
5.5–7.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Transparency

Transparency 0.44 — 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
12
41
25
42
60
62
57
56
75
73
68
Score
BEST WINDOW · 9 H
Low cloud
6%
11%
3%
2%
3%
2%
6%
8%
8%
0%
0%
0%
1%
Mid cloud
91%
79%
21%
36%
16%
17%
9%
16%
19%
0%
2%
1%
2%
High cloud
59%
52%
58%
88%
56%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.37
0.48
0.43
0.36
0.34
0.32
0.31
0.33
0.38
0.44
0.43
0.45
0.48
Seeing
0.93
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.99
0.95
0.92
0.86
0.85
0.84
0.85
0.81
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
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
04 Excellent · 75/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−0
Transparency
−23
Seeing
−3
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
75
CLOUD 0% LOW 0% MID 0% HIGH 0% SUN -41.2° MOON -52.7° / 1% WIND 4 TEMP 15°
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 22:30 · OBSERVE 23:00–07:00 · 8H · MEAN 61

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

19212301030507
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 23:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 07:00
SET UP 22:30 · OBSERVE 23:00–07:00 · 8H · MEAN 72

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

19212301030507
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 23:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 07:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 23:30 · OBSERVE 00:00–07:00 · 7H · MEAN 61

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

19212301030507
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 00:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 07:00
SET UP 23:30 · OBSERVE 00:00–07:00 · 7H · MEAN 52

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

19212301030507
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 00:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 07:00
SET UP 22:30 · OBSERVE 23:00–07:00 · 8H · MEAN 63

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

19212301030507
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 23:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 07:00

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

Natural Bridges National Monument

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

6conditions tonight
See the trade-off →
Latest verified night · 2026-10-08

Prediction, meet observation.

All comparisons →
9 matches0 discrepanciesNight-average cloud matched within 0.1 percentage point.
GOES cloud mask · ~12h referenceThe cloud call matched every sampled dark hour.Cloud only · 9 astronomically dark hours

Recent cloud comparisons · 30 recorded nights →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 10 Oct
75
Excellent
MOON 1%
23:00–07:00
Tomorrow · 11 Oct
65
Good
MOON 3%
21:00–07:00
Monday · 12 Oct
68
Good
MOON 7%
21:00–01:00
Tuesday · 13 Oct
80
Excellent
MOON 13%
00:00–01:00
Wednesday · 14 Oct
78
Excellent
MOON 21%
00:00–01:00
Thursday · 15 Oct
84
Excellent
MOON 29%
00:00–01:00
Friday · 16 Oct
44
Fair
MOON 37%
00:00–01:00

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
12
41
25
42
60
62
57
56
75
73
68
Score
Low cloud
6%
11%
3%
2%
3%
2%
6%
8%
8%
0%
0%
0%
1%
Mid cloud
91%
79%
21%
36%
16%
17%
9%
16%
19%
0%
2%
1%
2%
High cloud
59%
52%
58%
88%
56%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.37
0.48
0.43
0.36
0.34
0.32
0.31
0.33
0.38
0.44
0.43
0.45
0.48
Seeing
0.93
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.99
0.95
0.92
0.86
0.85
0.84
0.85
0.81
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
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 · 11 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
52
52
54
51
56
63
65
64
65
59
49
Score
Low cloud
27%
7%
22%
21%
28%
20%
10%
7%
7%
6%
10%
22%
27%
Mid cloud
26%
2%
2%
1%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
4%
1%
2%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.32
0.25
0.22
0.25
0.28
0.30
0.31
0.32
0.31
0.31
0.30
0.30
0.29
Seeing
0.95
0.97
0.94
1.00
0.99
0.93
0.89
0.82
0.81
0.82
0.81
0.82
0.80
Moon clear
3%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
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.

Monday · 12 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
59
62
45
56
50
68
Score
Low cloud
6%
9%
16%
27%
25%
30%
6%
52%
Mid cloud
6%
8%
11%
25%
4%
5%
0%
5%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.72
0.64
0.62
0.57
0.51
0.45
0.42
0.86
Seeing
0.92
0.90
0.86
0.84
0.84
0.81
1.00
0.63
Moon clear
7%
down
down
down
down
down
down
10%
19
20
21
22
23
00
06
12

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
80
45
Score
Low cloud
5%
0%
31%
22%
Mid cloud
10%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.97
0.50
0.24
0.90
Seeing
0.76
1.00
1.00
0.81
Moon clear
12%
down
down
17%
18
00
06
12

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
78
71
Score
Low cloud
1%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.87
0.44
0.35
1.00
Seeing
0.90
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
19%
down
down
down
18
00
06
12

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
84
62
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
22%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
23%
30%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
5%
Transparency
1.00
0.61
0.55
0.77
Seeing
1.00
0.97
0.95
1.00
Moon clear
27%
down
down
down
18
00
06
12

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
44
13
Score
Low cloud
4%
13%
80%
13%
Mid cloud
16%
35%
4%
16%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.87
0.38
0.26
0.86
Seeing
0.74
1.00
0.84
0.72
Moon clear
35%
down
down
down
18
00
06
12

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 →

More nearby locations 8 options · openclose

About this forecast

Exact-coordinate weather, sky geometry and site context.

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

Conditions for Cosmic Campground, New Mexico, United States 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.