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Nikaho

39.271° N   139.940° E  ·  47 M
43 /100
PEAK
Marginal, but there is a 1 hour gap from 02:00.
BEST WINDOW 02:00–03:00 · ASTRO DARK 02:00–04:00 · MOON 0%
Transparency
0.46
Seeing
0.34
Cloud
42%
Moon
0%

Fair tonight

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

Sky state
Lighter = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
Score
02
03
04
05
43
28
8
0
BEST WINDOW
Low cloud
16%
25%
17%
16%
Mid cloud
7%
26%
38%
23%
High cloud
28%
45%
49%
26%
Transparency
0.46
0.44
0.44
0.44
Seeing
0.32
0.28
0.34
0.32
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
02 Fair · 43/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−34
Transparency
−14
Seeing
−9
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
43
CLOUD 42% LOW 16% MID 7% HIGH 28% SUN -27.4° MOON -27.1° / 0% WIND 9 TEMP 25°
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 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–03:00 · 1H · MEAN 47

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

0204
CLOUD RETURNS 03:00
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–03:00 · 1H · MEAN 39

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

0204
CLOUD RETURNS 03:00SEEING STAYS SOFT THROUGHOUTMOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–03:00 · 1H · MEAN 44

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

0204
CLOUD RETURNS 03:00
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

0204
CLOUD NEVER DROPS BELOW 42%
SET UP 01:30 · OBSERVE 02:00–03:00 · 1H · MEAN 49

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

0204
CLOUD RETURNS 03:00
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The next week of nights

Tonight · 12 Aug
43
Fair
MOON 0%
02:00–03:00
Tomorrow · 13 Aug
65
Good
MOON 1%
21:00–04:00
Friday · 14 Aug
33
Poor
MOON 5%
Saturday · 15 Aug
73
Good
MOON 8%
03:00–04:00
Sunday · 16 Aug
39
Fair
MOON 19%
03:00–04:00
Monday · 17 Aug
48
Fair
MOON 28%
21:00–22:00
Tuesday · 18 Aug
75
Excellent
MOON 37%
21:00–22:00
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Nearby locations

About this forecast

Conditions for Nikaho, Japan 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 →