Eight-week planning horizon

Choose your observing weekend

Nelson · ranked by total moonless dark hours across Friday and Saturday. Seasonal history is context, not the chance of clear weather on those dates.

Brightened sky

Site darkness stays separate from the weather and the scheduling order.

20.7–21.2 mag/arcsec²

Next seven nights in detail · Moonless calendar · Milky Way timing

Choose a planet and find its observing times →

Moonless time rank 1

9 Oct – 10 Oct

16.0h moonless / 16.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
5.7 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

8.0h moonless · Moon 1% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 21:20–05:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

8.0h moonless · Moon 0% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 21:20–05:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 2

6 Nov – 7 Nov

12.0h moonless / 12.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

November seasonal context
6.0 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

6.0h moonless · Moon 8% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:20–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

6.0h moonless · Moon 3% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:20–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 3

2 Oct – 3 Oct

11.0h moonless / 16.7h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
5.7 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

5.0h moonless · Moon 63% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 21:20–02:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

6.0h moonless · Moon 52% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 21:20–03:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 4

30 Oct – 31 Oct

7.0h moonless / 13.3h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
5.7 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.0h moonless · Moon 78% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:00–01:00

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

4.0h moonless · Moon 67% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 22:00–02:00

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 5

13 Nov – 14 Nov

6.7h moonless / 12.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

November seasonal context
6.0 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.7h moonless · Moon 16% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 00:40–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

3.0h moonless · Moon 23% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 01:20–04:20

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Moonless time rank 6

16 Oct – 17 Oct

5.3h moonless / 14.7h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
5.7 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

3.0h moonless · Moon 30% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 02:00–05:00

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

2.3h moonless · Moon 39% lit
Longest moonless stretch: 02:40–05:00

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

No moonless darkness

25 Sept – 26 Sept

0.0h moonless / 17.0h astronomical darkness across both nights

September seasonal context
6.3 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

0.0h moonless · Moon 98% lit
No moonless dark window

Forecast cloud range: 12–12% at 1 available dark-time samples. Not full-night coverage or a probability.

Saturday

0.0h moonless · Moon 100% lit
No moonless dark window

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

No moonless darkness

23 Oct – 24 Oct

0.0h moonless / 14.7h astronomical darkness across both nights

October seasonal context
5.7 usable nights/month on average · 2005–2024. Historical regional cloud and darkness, not this weekend’s weather odds.

Night-by-night timing & conditions

Friday

0.0h moonless · Moon 91% lit
No moonless dark window

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

Saturday

0.0h moonless · Moon 96% lit
No moonless dark window

Weather not available for this night. Geometry only; recheck nearer departure.

How to use this planner

Choose a weekend with enough moonless time, then check the weather and target outlook before travelling. Times use Pacific/Auckland and approximately 20-minute geometry samples. Friday and Saturday are ranked together; hours need not form one continuous window.

The regional NASA climate baseline counts nights with at least three hours of astronomical darkness and mean nighttime cloud at or below 30%. It does not measure telescope seeing or guarantee clear skies. No weather probabilities are inferred from monthly averages. Longer-lead forecasts have coarser sampling.

Full seasonal history and definitions →