GoodSeeing
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Lae

-6.723° S   146.996° E  ·  44 M
45 /100
PEAK
Marginal, but there is a 1 hour gap from 04:00.
BEST WINDOW 04:00–05:00 · ASTRO DARK 04:00–06:00 · MOON 0%
Transparency
0.21
Seeing
0.89
Cloud
52%
Moon
0%

Fair tonight

Hour by hour, local to Lae. 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
45
19
0
BEST WINDOW
Low cloud
4%
43%
58%
Mid cloud
1%
2%
1%
High cloud
51%
76%
39%
Transparency
0.21
0.20
0.21
Seeing
0.89
0.84
0.90
Moon clear
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 · 45/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−32
Transparency
−22
Seeing
−1
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
45
CLOUD 52% LOW 4% MID 1% HIGH 51% SUN -34.9° MOON -36.6° / 0% WIND 3 TEMP 23°
Excellent 75+ Good 55+ Fair 35+ Poor 15+ Not worth it Seeing is estimated from surface wind — see how we score.
Tonight's limiting factor
Why thin high cloud ruins long exposures

Cirrus you can barely see will halo your bright stars, lift your background and vary between frames. Visual observers shrug it off. Long exposures integrate it, so it accumulates.

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 04:00–05:00 · 1H · MEAN 44

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 05:00
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–05:00 · 1H · MEAN 53

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 05:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–05:00 · 1H · MEAN 36

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 05:00
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

0406
CLOUD NEVER DROPS BELOW 52%
SET UP 03:30 · OBSERVE 04:00–05:00 · 1H · MEAN 44

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

0406
CLOUD RETURNS 05:00
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The next week of nights

Tonight · 12 Aug
45
Fair
MOON 0%
04:00–05:00
Tomorrow · 13 Aug
46
Fair
MOON 1%
02:00–05:00
Friday · 14 Aug
35
Fair
MOON 5%
23:00–00:00
Saturday · 15 Aug
2
Clouded out
MOON 8%
Sunday · 16 Aug
32
Poor
MOON 19%
Monday · 17 Aug
61
Good
MOON 28%
22:00–23:00
Tuesday · 18 Aug
63
Good
MOON 37%
04:00–05:00
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Nearby locations

About this forecast

Conditions for Lae, Papua New Guinea 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 →