Ásar bardagi

New Zealand · 45.03°S, 168.66°E · times in Pacific/Auckland

Tonight's sky over Queenstown

Monday 26 October 2026. Sunset , properly dark from until . The Moon is waning gibbous, 100% lit, and it is up through all of tonight's darkness.

  • Mercury evening
  • Mars morning
  • Jupiter morning
  • Saturn evening
  • ISS 2 passes this week
  • Southern Taurids peak Fri 6 Nov
The sky over Queenstown at 22:35 on Mon 26 OctAQUILACARINACETUSERIDANUSPEGASUSSAGITTARIUSSCORPIUSCanopusRigil KentaurusRigelAchernarHadarAltairAcruxAntaresFomalhautMimosaTolimanNeptuneSaturnMoonNNEESESSWWNW
The sky over Queenstown at tonight, looking straight up: the edge is the horizon, north at the top, east on the left. Hold it above your head facing south to match the sky.

Tonight at a glance

Sun and twilight

Sunset
Civil twilight ends
Nautical twilight ends
Astronomical darkness
–
Sunrise

The Moon

100%

Waning Gibbous

Moonrise
Moonset
(+1)
Moon-free darkness
none

Times between local noon today and noon tomorrow; (+1) means after midnight.

Dark-sky tip

A bright Moon tonight. Its light hides the Milky Way and fainter meteors. Use it instead: binoculars on the line between light and dark show craters in sharp relief.

Planets don't twinkle much. A bright 'star' that shines with a steady light is often a planet. Stars are points of light and twinkle as the air moves; planets show tiny discs, which average the shimmer out. Our bright-star helper names what you are looking at.

Tonight hour by hour

Tonight from 16:00 to 08:00: darkness, the Moon and planets above the horizon161820220002040608SkyMoonMercuryMarsJupiterSaturnUranusNeptune

Day Civil twilight Nautical Astronomical Full dark · bars show when each body is above the horizon

Planets tonight

Mercury

Evening: from low in the west-southwest, sets around in the west-southwest.

Magnitude +0.7 · in Libra · 18° from the Sun

Mars

Morning: rises around in the east-northeast, best near , 18° up in the northeast.

Magnitude +0.9 · in Cancer · 77° from the Sun

Jupiter

Morning: rises around in the east-northeast, best near , 17° up in the northeast.

Magnitude −2.0 · in Leo · 69° from the Sun

Saturn

Evening: from low in the northeast, sets around in the west.

Magnitude +0.4 · in Cetus · 157° from the Sun

Uranus binoculars

Morning: rises around in the northeast, best near , 24° up in the north.

Magnitude +5.6 · in Taurus · 148° from the Sun

Neptune binoculars

Evening: from low in the north-northeast until .

Magnitude +7.7 · in Pisces · 150° from the Sun

"Visible" means at least 5° above the horizon (15° for Uranus and Neptune) while the Sun is more than 6° below it. Directions: N, NE, E… are compass points along the horizon.

Visible ISS passes this week

DateAppearsHighestDisappearsVisible for
Mon 26 Oct WNW12° NW NW2.0 min
Tue 27 Oct W20° NW N5.0 min

The International Space Station looks like a bright, steady star moving across the sky in a few minutes. Passes are computed from the latest orbital elements (epoch 2026-10-25); the station's orbit is adjusted from time to time, so a pass can shift by a minute or more. It may also fade suddenly when it enters Earth's shadow.

The next 7 nights

Night ofSunsetDarkMoonMoonrise / setMoon-free darkPlanets
Tue 27 Oct – 98% ↑ ↓ — Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Wed 28 Oct – 93% ↑ ↓ 1 h 10 min Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Thu 29 Oct – 85% ↑ ↓ 2 h 25 min Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Fri 30 Oct – 76% ↑ ↓ 3 h 20 min Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Sat 31 Oct – 66% ↑ ↓ 4 h 05 min Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Sun 1 Nov – 55% ↑ 4 h 40 min Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Mon 2 Nov – 43% ↑ ↓ 5 h 00 min Mars, Jupiter, Saturn

Moon calendar for October 2026 in Queenstown

1 Thu 78% ↑ ↓
2 Fri 68% ↑ ↓
3 Sat 57% ↑ ↓
4 Sun 46% ↑ ↓
5 Mon 34% ↑ ↓
6 Tue 24% ↑ ↓
7 Wed 15% ↑ ↓
8 Thu 8% ↑ ↓
9 Fri 3% ↑ ↓
10 Sat 1% ↑ ↓
11 Sun 0% ↑ ↓
12 Mon 2% ↑ ↓
13 Tue 6% ↑ ↓
14 Wed 11% ↑
15 Thu 18% ↑ ↓
16 Fri 26% ↑ ↓
17 Sat 34% ↑ ↓
18 Sun 43% ↑ ↓
19 Mon 53% ↑ ↓
20 Tue 62% ↑ ↓
21 Wed 72% ↑ ↓
22 Thu 80% ↑ ↓
23 Fri 88% ↑ ↓
24 Sat 94% ↑ ↓
25 Sun 98% ↑ ↓
26 Mon 100% ↑ ↓
27 Tue 99% ↑ ↓
28 Wed 95% ↑ ↓
29 Thu 89% ↓
30 Fri 81% ↑ ↓
31 Sat 71% ↑ ↓

Illumination at local noon; ↑ moonrise, ↓ moonset, local time. Moon pictures are drawn as seen from the southern hemisphere, lit side reversed. Phase dates for the whole world: Moon phases October 2026.

Planets this month from Queenstown

PlanetThu 1 OctThu 15 OctSat 31 Oct
Mercury Evening, sets Evening, sets not visible
Venus Evening, sets Evening, sets not visible
Mars Morning, from Morning, from Morning, from
Jupiter Morning, from Morning, from Morning, from
Saturn Morning, from Evening, sets Evening, sets

Coming meteor showers

Southern Taurids

Peak Friday 6 November 2026, local

Best on the night of Thu 5 Nov around , when the radiant is 30° up. Under a dark sky expect up to about 3 meteors an hour.

Moon 12% at peak

Northern Taurids

Peak Friday 13 November 2026, local

Best on the night of Thu 12 Nov around , when the radiant is 23° up. Under a dark sky expect up to about 2 meteors an hour.

Moon 11% at peak

Leonids

Peak Wednesday 18 November 2026, local

Best on the night of Wed 18 Nov around , when the radiant is 7° up. Under a dark sky expect up to about 2 meteors an hour, fewer this year because the Moon is 55% lit.

Moon 55% at peak

Rate = the shower's zenithal hourly rate × the sine of the radiant's altitude. Real counts are lower from towns and with moonlight; treat this as an upper guide.

Eclipses seen from Queenstown

Nearby cities

Somewhere else? Use your own location: the sky is computed in your browser and the location never leaves your device.