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Tonight · Sat, 10 October 2026

Sutherland (SAAO) stargazing forecast tonight

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

32.379°S 20.811°E ·1798 m ·Northern Cape, South Africa

100
/100
Excellent conditions
at peak

A genuinely good night — 8 hours of clear, dark sky from 21:00.

Site darkness · peer measure
Natural-dark skyNot multiplied into the conditions score
21.9–21.9 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 Sutherland (SAAO), Northern Cape →Moonless nights →
Tonight in context · local sky & season

Saturn: about 8.3h 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
21:00 – 05:00
Window quality
97 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
21:00 – 05:00
Moon
New moon, 0%
Transparency at peak
1.00
Seeing at peak (est.)
1.00
Visual limit (modelled)
6.0–7.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Nothing much

No single factor is holding this night back. Go out.

The night, hour by hour

Colour = score · Luminance = everything else
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
81
95
97
100
99
97
96
96
96
61
Score
BEST WINDOW · 9 H
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.98
0.93
0.93
0.91
0.91
0.90
Seeing
0.83
0.81
0.88
1.00
0.97
0.92
0.94
0.96
1.00
0.96
0.88
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
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
23 Excellent · 100/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−0
Transparency
−0
Seeing
−0
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
100
CLOUD 0% LOW 0% MID 0% HIGH 0% SUN -46.1° MOON -40.4° / 0% WIND 2 TEMP 15°
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.

SET UP 19:30 · OBSERVE 20:00–06:00 · 10H · MEAN 91

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

202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00
SET UP 19:30 · OBSERVE 20:00–06:00 · 10H · MEAN 94

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

202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 19:30 · OBSERVE 20:00–06:00 · 10H · MEAN 92

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

202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00
SET UP 19:30 · OBSERVE 20:00–06:00 · 10H · MEAN 91

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

202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00
SET UP 19:30 · OBSERVE 20:00–06:00 · 10H · MEAN 92

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

202200020406
TWILIGHT BEGINS 06:00

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

NamibRand Nature Reserve

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

100conditions tonight
See the trade-off →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 10 Oct
100
Excellent
MOON 0%
21:00–05:00
Tomorrow · 11 Oct
97
Excellent
MOON 2%
21:00–05:00
Monday · 12 Oct
73
Good
MOON 6%
00:00–02:00
Tuesday · 13 Oct
88
Excellent
MOON 12%
02:00–03:00
Wednesday · 14 Oct
85
Excellent
MOON 19%
02:00–03:00
Thursday · 15 Oct
83
Excellent
MOON 27%
02:00–03:00
Friday · 16 Oct
23
Poor

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

MOON 35%

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
81
95
97
100
99
97
96
96
96
61
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.98
0.93
0.93
0.91
0.91
0.90
Seeing
0.79
0.83
0.81
0.88
1.00
0.97
0.92
0.94
0.96
1.00
0.96
0.88
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06

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
79
97
97
96
96
94
94
84
48
43
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
6%
53%
27%
13%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
5%
2%
0%
2%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Seeing
0.72
0.77
0.88
0.89
0.84
0.82
0.77
0.76
0.65
0.68
0.61
0.68
Moon clear
2%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06

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
15
6
9
29
45
73
17
61
42
26
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
42%
68%
96%
94%
70%
51%
21%
83%
3%
41%
22%
98%
High cloud
91%
70%
74%
50%
17%
12%
7%
56%
58%
51%
72%
94%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
0.92
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.93
0.85
0.82
0.78
0.77
0.71
Seeing
0.30
0.15
0.15
0.31
0.49
0.56
0.84
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.95
Moon clear
5%
5%
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06

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
88
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
1%
0%
0%
10%
High cloud
95%
0%
0%
75%
Transparency
1.00
0.98
0.69
0.92
Seeing
0.77
0.84
1.00
0.72
Moon clear
9%
10%
down
13%
14
20
02
08

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
66
85
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
37%
0%
26%
12%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Seeing
0.15
0.57
0.94
0.98
Moon clear
15%
17%
down
down
14
20
02
08

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
66
83
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
2%
0%
26%
0%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Seeing
0.42
0.91
0.88
0.90
Moon clear
22%
24%
down
down
14
20
02
08

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
42
23
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
2%
16%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
62%
0%
High cloud
64%
45%
66%
73%
Transparency
1.00
1.00
0.63
0.51
Seeing
0.54
0.65
0.91
1.00
Moon clear
31%
33%
down
down
14
20
02
08

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

About this forecast

Exact-coordinate weather, sky geometry and site context.

Full method →
Sources and scoring details openclose

Conditions for Sutherland (SAAO), Northern Cape, South Africa 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.