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Tonight · Sat, 10 October 2026

Phoenix stargazing forecast tonight

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

33.448°N 112.074°W ·366 m ·Arizona, United States

NearbyScottsdaleMesaChandlerSun City WestMore nearby
89
/100
Excellent conditions
at peak

A genuinely good night — 10 hours of clear, dark sky from 20:00.

Site darkness · peer measure
Bright urban skyNot multiplied into the conditions score
17.8–18.5 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 Phoenix, Arizona →Moonless nights →
Tonight in context · local sky & season

October historically: 21.5 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
20:00 – 06:00
Window quality
73 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
20:00 – 06:00
Moon
New moon, 1%
Transparency at peak
0.90
Seeing at peak (est.)
0.77
Visual limit (modelled)
3.0–5.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Seeing

Seeing 0.77, estimated from surface wind. Expect to drop magnification. What this means →

The night, hour by hour

Colour = score · Luminance = everything else
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
25
42
70
83
86
72
89
74
72
76
65
5
Score
BEST WINDOW · 11 H
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
4%
0%
2%
10%
1%
2%
3%
16%
Mid cloud
26%
2%
9%
9%
5%
10%
12%
2%
6%
5%
2%
12%
14%
14%
High cloud
98%
99%
96%
41%
21%
6%
22%
0%
10%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
0.96
0.98
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.90
0.77
0.74
0.68
0.58
0.53
0.49
Seeing
0.99
0.92
0.95
0.96
0.94
0.90
0.80
0.77
0.69
0.73
0.60
0.60
0.54
0.59
Moon clear
0%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
18
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
01 Excellent · 89/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−2
Transparency
−4
Seeing
−5
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
89
CLOUD 2% LOW 0% MID 2% HIGH 0% SUN -61.5° MOON -70.6° / 1% WIND 4 TEMP 26°
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.

NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

18202200020406
SITE GLOW LIMITS THIS TARGET
SET UP 18:30 · OBSERVE 19:00–06:00 · 11H · MEAN 67

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

18202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–00:00 · 2H · MEAN 37

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

18202200020406
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 00:00SITE GLOW LIMITS FAINT TARGETS
SET UP 00:30 · OBSERVE 01:00–05:00 · 4H · MEAN 40

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

18202200020406
HIGH CLOUD CLEARS 01:00SITE GLOW LIMITS FAINT TARGETS
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

18202200020406
SITE GLOW LIMITS THIS TARGET

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

Kitt Peak National Observatory

172 km away · Threatened dark sky · 21.6–21.7 mag/arcsec²

82conditions tonight
See the trade-off →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 10 Oct
89
Excellent
MOON 1%
20:00–06:00
Tomorrow · 11 Oct
82
Excellent
MOON 3%
20:00–06:00
Monday · 12 Oct
77
Excellent
MOON 7%
20:00–00:00
Tuesday · 13 Oct
74
Good
MOON 15%
23:00–00:00
Wednesday · 14 Oct
88
Excellent
MOON 22%
23:00–00:00
Thursday · 15 Oct
84
Excellent
MOON 31%
23:00–00:00
Friday · 16 Oct
94
Excellent
MOON 40%
23:00–00:00

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
25
42
70
83
86
72
89
74
72
76
65
5
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
4%
0%
2%
10%
1%
2%
3%
16%
Mid cloud
26%
2%
9%
9%
5%
10%
12%
2%
6%
5%
2%
12%
14%
14%
High cloud
98%
99%
96%
41%
21%
6%
22%
0%
10%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
0.96
0.98
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.90
0.77
0.74
0.68
0.58
0.53
0.49
Seeing
0.99
0.92
0.95
0.96
0.94
0.90
0.80
0.77
0.69
0.73
0.60
0.60
0.54
0.59
Moon clear
0%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
18
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
43
59
82
61
72
58
67
68
70
52
44
4
Score
Low cloud
3%
4%
17%
2%
1%
6%
9%
5%
2%
0%
2%
6%
8%
2%
Mid cloud
41%
23%
26%
9%
15%
9%
19%
6%
3%
1%
19%
29%
26%
4%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
0.91
0.84
0.32
0.57
0.46
0.38
0.36
0.32
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.20
Seeing
0.69
0.73
0.82
0.93
0.91
1.00
0.94
0.93
0.83
0.88
0.96
0.93
0.77
0.90
Moon clear
3%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
18
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
38
75
77
70
57
44
Score
Low cloud
3%
6%
3%
0%
0%
0%
11%
19%
Mid cloud
32%
32%
11%
8%
13%
26%
25%
43%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.96
0.85
0.71
0.59
0.47
0.37
0.10
0.54
Seeing
0.78
0.84
0.88
0.93
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
7%
7%
down
down
down
down
down
10%
18
19
20
21
22
23
05
11

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
74
67
Score
Low cloud
13%
1%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
8%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.78
0.37
0.19
0.85
Seeing
0.92
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
12%
down
down
17%
17
23
05
11

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
88
74
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
0.69
0.35
0.91
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
19%
down
down
down
17
23
05
11

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
66
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
0.59
0.14
1.00
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
27%
down
down
down
17
23
05
11

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
94
75
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
0.85
0.36
1.00
Seeing
0.97
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
35%
down
down
down
17
23
05
11

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 Phoenix, Arizona, 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.