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Tonight · Sat, 10 October 2026

Wood Buffalo National Park stargazing forecast tonight

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

59.383°N 112.983°W ·300 m ·Alberta, Canada

66
/100
Good conditions
at peak

Worth setting up — 4 hours of workable sky from 22:00.

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 Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta →Moonless nights →
Tonight in context · local sky & season

October historically: 2.6 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 7.0h 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
22:00 – 02:00
Window quality
50 / 100 avg
Astronomical dark
21:00 – 06:00
Moon
New moon, 1%
Transparency at peak
0.38
Seeing at peak (est.)
0.96
Visual limit (modelled)
5.5–7.0 mag
Tonight's limiting factor
Transparency

Transparency 0.38 — haze and water vapour will cost you the faintest targets. What this means →

The night, hour by hour

Colour = score · Luminance = everything else
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
2
7
39
43
66
52
21
15
29
29
25
11
Score
BEST WINDOW · 5 H
Low cloud
97%
95%
91%
49%
43%
9%
15%
51%
57%
27%
15%
20%
19%
4%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
2%
4%
7%
31%
77%
95%
84%
97%
88%
16%
9%
Transparency
0.57
0.52
0.48
0.47
0.41
0.38
0.39
0.39
0.40
0.43
0.44
0.46
0.44
0.41
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.98
0.98
0.96
0.92
0.88
0.85
0.82
0.79
0.74
0.70
0.69
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
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 Good · 66/100
Starting from
100
Cloud
−12
Transparency
−22
Seeing
−1
Moonlight
−0
Darkness
−0
Score
66
CLOUD 15% LOW 9% MID 0% HIGH 7% SUN -35.4° MOON -40.5° / 1% WIND 2 TEMP 0°
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 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–02:00 · 4H · MEAN 49

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

19212301030507
CLOUD BREAKS 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 02:00
SET UP 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–02:00 · 4H · MEAN 57

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

19212301030507
CLOUD BREAKS 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 02:00MOONLIGHT IGNORED FOR THIS TARGET
SET UP 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–02:00 · 4H · MEAN 46

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

19212301030507
CLOUD BREAKS 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 02:00
SET UP 23:30 · OBSERVE 00:00–02:00 · 2H · MEAN 43

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

19212301030507
CLOUD BREAKS 00:00CLOUD RETURNS 02:00
SET UP 21:30 · OBSERVE 22:00–02:00 · 4H · MEAN 49

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

19212301030507
CLOUD BREAKS 22:00CLOUD RETURNS 02:00

Deep-sky visual is your current default.

A darker option

NamibRand Nature Reserve

14,550 km away · Natural-dark sky · 21.9–21.9 mag/arcsec²

100conditions tonight
See the trade-off →
Latest verified night · 2026-10-08

Prediction, meet observation.

All comparisons →
8 matches0 discrepanciesSatellite saw 1.5 points less cloud.
GOES cloud mask · ~12h referenceThe cloud call matched every sampled dark hour.Cloud only · 8 astronomically dark hours

Recent cloud comparisons · 30 recorded nights →

The next week of nights

Tonight · 10 Oct
66
Good
MOON 1%
22:00–02:00
Tomorrow · 11 Oct
67
Good
MOON 3%
21:00–06:00
Monday · 12 Oct
76
Excellent
MOON 7%
21:00–01:00
Tuesday · 13 Oct
53
Fair
MOON 13%
00:00–01:00
Wednesday · 14 Oct
0
Not worth it

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

MOON 21%
Thursday · 15 Oct
10
Not worth it

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

MOON 29%
Friday · 16 Oct
35
Fair
MOON 37%
06:00–07:00

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
2
7
39
43
66
52
21
15
29
29
25
11
Score
Low cloud
97%
95%
91%
49%
43%
9%
15%
51%
57%
27%
15%
20%
19%
4%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
High cloud
0%
0%
0%
2%
4%
7%
31%
77%
95%
84%
97%
88%
16%
9%
Transparency
0.57
0.52
0.48
0.47
0.41
0.38
0.39
0.39
0.40
0.43
0.44
0.46
0.44
0.41
Seeing
1.00
1.00
1.00
0.98
0.98
0.96
0.92
0.88
0.85
0.82
0.79
0.74
0.70
0.69
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08

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
22
40
61
67
66
57
52
51
38
44
29
7
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
2%
4%
23%
4%
9%
3%
16%
High cloud
83%
66%
87%
34%
17%
20%
41%
47%
45%
57%
62%
84%
95%
83%
Transparency
0.69
0.66
0.63
0.62
0.61
0.61
0.58
0.55
0.50
0.46
0.45
0.44
0.44
0.43
Seeing
0.58
0.57
0.56
0.53
0.51
0.51
0.50
0.49
0.50
0.50
0.52
0.53
0.53
0.55
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08

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
76
76
75
53
64
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
2%
0%
0%
0%
0%
33%
0%
0%
High cloud
81%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Transparency
0.63
0.55
0.45
0.42
0.39
0.38
0.36
0.63
Seeing
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.94
0.96
0.97
0.88
0.88
Moon clear
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
down
19
20
21
22
23
00
06
12

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
53
13
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
95%
Mid cloud
2%
0%
68%
100%
High cloud
0%
52%
85%
100%
Transparency
0.56
0.35
0.26
0.24
Seeing
1.00
1.00
0.94
0.75
Moon clear
12%
down
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 · 14 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
Score
Low cloud
99%
100%
100%
2%
Mid cloud
18%
99%
0%
0%
High cloud
30%
10%
0%
21%
Transparency
0.17
0.17
0.17
0.42
Seeing
1.00
0.51
0.67
0.98
Moon clear
19%
down
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 · 15 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
4
10
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
10%
0%
Mid cloud
0%
100%
81%
38%
High cloud
98%
98%
81%
69%
Transparency
0.52
0.55
0.57
0.63
Seeing
0.81
0.72
0.68
0.78
Moon clear
27%
down
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 · 16 Oct · forecast times
Sky state
Shaded = daylight and twilight  ·  unshaded = astronomical dark
32
35
Score
Low cloud
0%
0%
0%
0%
Mid cloud
6%
6%
0%
74%
High cloud
100%
93%
81%
0%
Transparency
0.48
0.31
0.17
0.54
Seeing
0.87
0.86
0.83
0.67
Moon clear
35%
down
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.

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 Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada 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.