GoodSeeing
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Preston

-37.750° S   145.017° E  ·  61 M
39 /100
PEAK
Marginal, but there is a 1 hour gap from 05:00.
BEST WINDOW 05:00–06:00 · ASTRO DARK 02:00–06:00 · MOON 0%
Transparency
0.36
Seeing
0.74
Cloud
41%
Moon
0%

Fair tonight

Hour by hour, local to Preston. 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
06
07
1
1
21
39
2
0
BEST WINDOW
Low cloud
98%
98%
67%
40%
88%
100%
Mid cloud
8%
9%
4%
6%
66%
17%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.34
0.32
0.32
Seeing
0.64
0.64
0.66
0.70
0.74
0.80
Moon clear
down
down
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 Clouded out · 1/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−99
Transparency
−0
Seeing
−0
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
1
CLOUD 98% LOW 98% MID 8% HIGH 0% SUN -59.1° MOON -60.4° / 0% WIND 6 TEMP 11°
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 41

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

020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00CLOUD RETURNS 06:00
SET UP 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 43

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

020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00CLOUD RETURNS 06:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 39

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

020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00CLOUD RETURNS 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.

020406
CLOUD NEVER DROPS BELOW 41%
SET UP 04:30 · OBSERVE 05:00–06:00 · 1H · MEAN 40

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

020406
CLOUD BREAKS 05:00CLOUD RETURNS 06:00
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The next week of nights

Tonight · 12 Aug
39
Fair
MOON 0%
05:00–06:00
Tomorrow · 13 Aug
70
Good
MOON 1%
20:00–06:00
Friday · 14 Aug
51
Fair
MOON 5%
01:00–03:00
Saturday · 15 Aug
63
Good
MOON 8%
22:00–23:00
Sunday · 16 Aug
69
Good
MOON 19%
22:00–23:00
Monday · 17 Aug
70
Good
MOON 28%
04:00–05:00
Tuesday · 18 Aug
50
Fair
MOON 37%
04:00–05:00
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Nearby locations

About this forecast

Conditions for Preston, Victoria, Australia 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 →