Your sky, right now
Discover the cycles that govern the sky.
Tonight's Moon and the visible planets, at their places in the sky. The next eclipses, conjunctions and meteor showers, and the cycles behind them.
Free, computed live in your browser, no account or sign-up. How this is computed →
This week in the sky
- Next Moon phaseMoon calendar
- Next eclipseEclipse explorer
- Planets meetingConjunctions
- Meteor showerShower calendar
Tapping this names your city from a place index served with this page, so nothing leaves your device, and we store nothing on a server.
The cosmic clock
Every cycle in the sky is somewhere in its turn at this moment. These six dials follow the great ones, from the Moon's month to the Sun's 230-million-year lap of the galaxy.
Moon phase
the synodic month, new Moon back to new Moon
365.24 daysThe solar year
the year of the seasons, March equinox to March equinox
Twice a yearEclipse season
eclipses can only happen in the weeks when the Sun is near a lunar node
19.9 yearsGreat conjunction
the wait between Jupiter-Saturn meetings, the grandest of the naked-eye conjunction cycles
Pole: PolarisThe Great Year state
precession swings Earth's axis once around in about 25,920 years; Vega takes the pole in roughly 12,000
~20 lapsThe galactic year state
about 20 orbits of the Milky Way since the Sun formed; where we sit in the current lap is not known
The rings and the small diagrams inside them fill with positions computed live in your browser. A lighter arc tagged "countdown" counts down to the next event, and the two dashed dials show deep time as a known state rather than a live phase.
Explore the sky, live
Interactive, always-current views of the night sky and the solar system, each computed live for this moment.
Live Sky Map
A planetarium of the sky over your exact spot, right now. Tap any of about 9,000 real stars, a planet, or a Messier showpiece to identify it, scrub through time, and look through the Earth to what lies below the horizon.
Open the sky map →The Live Orrery
Scrub time and watch the real planets orbit, Sun-centered or Earth-centered, from Mercury out to Pluto.
LiveToday in the Sky
Tonight's Moon phase, the planets' places in the zodiac, and the next sky events.
NewWhat Is That in the Sky?
Saw a bright light, star or planet? Give the direction, height and time and it ranks what it most likely was, for tonight or a past night.
NewSun, Moon & Planets
A page for every world: where it is tonight, how to see it, cited facts, and its next oppositions, phases and eclipses.
CalendarMoon Phase Calendar
Tonight's Moon and a month grid of the new, quarter and full moons, plus each full moon's traditional name.
EclipsesEclipse Explorer
The next solar and lunar eclipses, their dates and types, and the Saros family each belongs to.
NewRetrograde Right Now
Which planets are retrograde at this moment, every station date through next year, and every Mercury retrograde ahead, with the honest astronomy.
Your locationPlanet Parade Tracker
The next planet parade from your spot, where to look and when, with a live countdown.
GuidesPlanet Conjunctions
When two planets meet in the sky: live dates and how close they pass, pair by pair.
3D flightVoyage
Fly the real solar system with the planets at their true positions: thread Saturn's rings, weave past Jupiter's moons, or play a quick stardust-collecting game.
Calculators and the concepts
Calculate
Built to show their work, with the method behind every number.
- Synodic Period Calculatorthe average time between two bodies' alignments
- Planetary Alignment Calculatorreal dates of conjunctions and oppositions
- Celestial Return Calculatorwhen the Sun, Moon or a planet returns to a spot
- Sunrise & Sunsetrise, set, twilight and the dark observing window
- All calculators →
The concepts
Hands-on, plain-language explainers, each built around a visual you can move.
- Moon Phaseswhy the Moon waxes and wanes over 29.5 days
- Eclipseswhy they happen only near the lunar nodes
- Tidestwo bulges, two highs a day, spring and neap
- Seasons & the Sunhow Earth's tilt makes the solstices and equinoxes
- Precessionthe 25,920-year wobble of Earth's axis
- All concepts explained →
Sources and method
CycleCalcs is built on the open-source, MIT-licensed Astronomy Engine, the model serious sky software relies on. See the methodology for the sources and models behind every calculation.