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Empangeni

-28.762° S   31.893° E  ·  103 M
44 /100
PEAK
Marginal, but there is a 1 hour gap from 05:00.
BEST WINDOW 05:00–06:00 · ASTRO DARK 19:00–06:00 · MOON 0%
Transparency
0.43
Seeing
0.84
Cloud
31%
Moon
0%

Fair tonight

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

Sky state
Lighter = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
Score
18
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
6
0
8
1
3
19
15
35
13
22
27
44
2
0
BEST WINDOW
Low cloud
16%
97%
30%
94%
88%
30%
39%
9%
52%
27%
14%
5%
4%
4%
Mid cloud
22%
96%
90%
75%
67%
61%
66%
42%
60%
56%
56%
30%
33%
30%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.43
0.17
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.19
0.10
0.22
0.23
0.25
0.28
0.31
Seeing
0.64
0.56
0.69
0.83
0.84
0.73
0.79
0.65
0.65
0.58
0.59
0.61
0.57
0.56
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
0%
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
18 Clouded out · 6/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−32
Transparency
−15
Seeing
−5
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−41
Score
6
CLOUD 32% LOW 16% MID 22% HIGH 0% SUN -7.6° MOON -7.6° / 0% WIND 6 TEMP 15°
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 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 47

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

18202200020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00
SET UP 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 48

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

18202200020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 45

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

18202200020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

18202200020406
CONDITIONS STAY BELOW THE USABLE THRESHOLD
SET UP 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 49

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

18202200020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00
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The next week of nights

Tonight · 12 Aug
44
Fair
MOON 0%
05:00–06:00
Tomorrow · 13 Aug
63
Good
MOON 2%
19:00–01:00
Friday · 14 Aug
72
Good
MOON 6%
19:00–06:00
Saturday · 15 Aug
70
Good
MOON 13%
20:00–21:00
Sunday · 16 Aug
69
Good
MOON 21%
20:00–21:00
Monday · 17 Aug
63
Good
MOON 30%
02:00–03:00
Tuesday · 18 Aug
36
Fair
MOON 39%
02:00–03:00
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Nearby locations

About this forecast

Conditions for Empangeni, South Africa 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 →