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Tonight · Sat, 19 September 2026

Queenstown tonight

45.030°S 168.663°E ·310 m ·Otago, New Zealand

NearbyAoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo)
39
/100
Fair conditions
at peak

Marginal, but there is a 2 hours gap from 23:00.

Site darkness · peer measure
Threatened dark skyNot multiplied into the conditions score
21.5–21.7 mag/arcsec²

The score describes tonight’s conditions. Site darkness helps you choose what to observe.

See target outlook ↓Planet observing times →
Tonight in context · local sky & season

September historically: 5.0 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 7.3h 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
23:00 – 01:00
Window quality
37 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
21:00 – 06:00
Moon
First quarter, 57%
Transparency at peak
0.39
Seeing at peak (est.)
0.95
Visual limit (modelled)
4.5–6.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Transparency

Transparency 0.39 — haze and water vapour will cost you the faintest targets. What this means →

Also limiting: Moonlight. See the guide →

The night, hour by hour

Colour = score · Luminance = everything else
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
1
14
29
35
39
30
27
17
18
22
4
Score
BEST WINDOW · 3 H
Low cloud
80%
92%
29%
17%
23%
25%
39%
42%
47%
49%
50%
57%
69%
Mid cloud
60%
66%
61%
38%
23%
18%
13%
22%
54%
56%
42%
26%
48%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.36
0.39
0.39
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.33
0.36
0.42
0.46
Seeing
0.87
0.85
0.81
0.80
0.91
0.95
0.97
0.93
0.90
0.90
0.90
0.87
0.86
Moon clear
54%
55%
55%
56%
56%
56%
57%
57%
57%
down
down
down
down
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
00 Fair · 39/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−37
Transparency
−15
Seeing
−1
Moonlight
−8
Darkness
−0
Score
39
CLOUD 35% LOW 25% MID 18% HIGH 0% SUN -45.6° MOON 30.8° / 56% WIND 3 TEMP 4°
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.

19212301030507
MOON UP AND BRIGHT
SET UP 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–03:00 · 5H · MEAN 46

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

19212301030507
CLOUD BREAKS 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 03:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

19212301030507
MOON UP AND BRIGHT
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

19212301030507
MOON UP AND BRIGHT
NO USABLE WINDOW FOR THIS TARGET TONIGHT

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

19212301030507
MOON UP AND BRIGHT

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

Aoraki Mackenzie (Lake Tekapo)

184 km away · Natural-dark sky · 21.8–21.9 mag/arcsec²

66conditions tonight
See the trade-off →
Latest verified night · 2026-09-17

Prediction, meet observation.

All comparisons →
8 matches1 discrepancySatellite saw 2.7 points less cloud.
HIMAWARI cloud mask · ~12h reference1 of 9 sampled hours diverged.Cloud only · 9 astronomically dark hours

Recent cloud comparisons · 24 recorded nights →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 19 Sept
39
Fair
MOON 57%
23:00–01:00
Tomorrow · 20 Sept
34
Poor

Moonlight is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 65%
Monday · 21 Sept
53
Fair
MOON 73%
01:00–04:00
Tuesday · 22 Sept
40
Fair
MOON 82%
00:00–01:00
Wednesday · 23 Sept
6
Not worth it

Cloud or fog is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 89%
Thursday · 24 Sept
1
Not worth it

Cloud or fog is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 94%
Friday · 25 Sept
26
Poor

Moonlight is the strongest score limit at the best sampled time.

MOON 98%

Open a night for its forecast times. Later forecasts may have wider time steps; missing hours are not interpolated.

Tonight · 19 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
1
14
29
35
39
30
27
17
18
22
4
Score
Low cloud
80%
92%
29%
17%
23%
25%
39%
42%
47%
49%
50%
57%
69%
Mid cloud
60%
66%
61%
38%
23%
18%
13%
22%
54%
56%
42%
26%
48%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.36
0.39
0.39
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.33
0.36
0.42
0.46
Seeing
0.87
0.85
0.81
0.80
0.91
0.95
0.97
0.93
0.90
0.90
0.90
0.87
0.86
Moon clear
54%
55%
55%
56%
56%
56%
57%
57%
57%
down
down
down
down
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 · 20 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
21
34
30
28
26
15
10
28
23
4
4
Score
Low cloud
2%
1%
1%
9%
11%
13%
21%
32%
34%
50%
42%
41%
41%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
4%
20%
19%
48%
65%
20%
13%
93%
31%
10%
High cloud
66%
84%
62%
63%
50%
64%
82%
77%
42%
43%
47%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.59
0.55
0.50
0.43
0.40
0.37
0.34
0.34
0.32
0.28
0.10
0.23
0.22
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.98
0.97
0.98
0.95
0.95
0.97
0.99
Moon clear
64%
64%
64%
65%
65%
65%
66%
66%
67%
67%
down
down
down
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 · 21 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
1
2
22
27
43
53
48
32
53
6
Score
Low cloud
100%
100%
63%
19%
31%
14%
13%
7%
22%
49%
20%
6%
62%
Mid cloud
100%
100%
100%
100%
20%
24%
12%
6%
1%
0%
2%
20%
41%
High cloud
7%
0%
16%
81%
12%
17%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.10
0.37
0.35
0.26
0.24
0.28
0.26
0.55
Seeing
1.00
0.96
0.80
0.85
0.95
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.97
0.98
0.98
0.84
Moon clear
72%
73%
73%
73%
74%
74%
75%
75%
75%
76%
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
12

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Tuesday · 22 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
40
1
Score
Low cloud
13%
11%
86%
73%
Mid cloud
20%
5%
31%
29%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.72
0.39
0.23
0.64
Seeing
0.91
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
80%
82%
down
down
18
00
06
12

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Wednesday · 23 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
6
1
Score
Low cloud
23%
84%
82%
84%
Mid cloud
23%
6%
16%
13%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.29
0.15
0.13
0.68
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
87%
89%
down
down
18
00
06
12

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Thursday · 24 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
1
Score
Low cloud
69%
81%
99%
69%
Mid cloud
77%
91%
81%
36%
High cloud
10%
31%
2%
0%
Transparency
0.57
0.24
0.22
0.57
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
93%
94%
down
down
18
00
06
12

Cloud tracks show clear sky — a longer bar is better. The figure inside each track is the raw measurement.

Friday · 25 Sept · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
26
Score
Low cloud
62%
0%
17%
Mid cloud
48%
38%
99%
High cloud
62%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.60
0.28
0.20
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
Moon clear
97%
98%
down
18
00
06

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 →

About this forecast

Exact-coordinate weather, sky geometry and site context.

Full method →20-year baseline →
Sources and scoring details openclose

Conditions for Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand 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.