Mercury
Evening sky- Where to look
- Low in the southwest
- Constellation
- Libra
- Best time
- in the hour after sunset
Live sky guide · updated hourly
Sky Tonight
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Tonight, Tuesday, October 20, 2026: a waxing gibbous Moon, 68% lit. Saturn is the planet to watch, up most of the night in Cetus. The Orionids meteor shower is active, peaking tomorrow night. Sunset is at 6:39 PM Eastern, sunrise tomorrow at 7:34 AM.
Computed for the Eastern Time Zone and valid across mid-northern latitudes. Times are Eastern.
Moon Phase Today
Waxing Gibbous
Tonight's Moon is 68% illuminated and 9.9 days into its cycle. It is up most of the evening and sets in the small hours.
- Illumination
- 68%
- Moon age
- 9.9 days
- Next full moon
- Monday, October 26in 6 days · Hunter's Moon
- Next new moon
- Monday, November 9in 20 days · darkest skies
What Planets Are Visible Tonight?
The five planets you can see with the naked eye, worked out for tonight from their real orbital positions. Verdicts are for mid-northern latitudes; the farther north or south you are, the more the low ones shift.
Venus
Not visible tonightOnly 8° from the Sun in the sky, lost in its glare.
Brightness tonight would be about magnitude -4.0.
Mars
Morning sky- Where to look
- High in the southeast
- Constellation
- Cancer
- Best time
- just before dawn
- Brightness
- magnitude 1.0
Jupiter
Morning sky- Where to look
- High in the southeast
- Constellation
- Leo
- Best time
- just before dawn
- Brightness
- magnitude -2.0
Saturn
Up most of the night- Where to look
- High in the southwest
- Constellation
- Cetus
- Best time
- around 1 AM
- Brightness
- magnitude 0.4
Naked-eye planets only on this page. Uranus and Neptune need binoculars or a telescope, and a finder chart, on any night of the year.
Sunset tonight: 6:39 PM · Sunrise tomorrow: 7:34 AM Eastern.
Meteor Showers Tonight
Active nowPeaks in 1 night
Orionids
- Radiant
- Orion
- Peak rate
- ~20 meteors/hr
- Best viewing
- After midnight, dark skies
Rates are ideal dark-sky figures. City light can cut what you see to a fraction of this.
Coming Up in the Night Sky
Next full moon
Hunter's Moon
Monday, October 26 · in 6 days
Next meteor peak
Orionids
Wednesday, October 21 · tomorrow night · radiant Orion
Next eclipse
Annular solar eclipse
Saturday, February 6 · in 109 days. Ring of fire over southern Chile and Argentina.
- Penumbral lunar eclipseSaturday, February 20, 2027 · in 123 days
- Total solar eclipseMonday, August 2, 2027 · in 286 days
Tonight's sky, answered
What is the moon phase today?
On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the Moon is a waxing gibbous with 68% of its face lit by the Sun. It is 9.9 days into its 29.5-day cycle, growing toward full. It is up most of the evening and sets in the small hours.
Is it a full moon tonight?
No. The next full Moon is the Hunter's Moon on Monday, October 26, in 6 days. Tonight's Moon is a waxing gibbous at 68% lit, still growing a little brighter each night. A full Moon rises right around sunset and stays up all night.
What planet is visible tonight?
Saturn is the standout: up most of the night in Cetus, best around 1 AM, high in the southwest, shining at about magnitude 0.4. Also up: Mercury (evening sky, Libra), Mars (morning sky, Cancer, magnitude 1.0), Jupiter (morning sky, Leo, magnitude -2.0). Venus sits too close to the Sun to see tonight.
When is the next full moon?
The next full Moon is the Hunter's Moon on Monday, October 26, in 6 days. It rises around sunset that evening and stays up all night. The next new Moon, the darkest night of the cycle and the best for stargazing, is Monday, November 9.
What meteor shower can I see tonight?
The Orionids are active tonight, radiating from the constellation Orion. They peak tomorrow night, so rates are already close to their best. Under dark skies expect around 20 meteors an hour at the peak. A bright Moon will wash out the faintest meteors, so give your eyes twenty minutes in the dark and look away from the Moon.
How we work this out: planet positions come from JPL Keplerian orbital elements, the Moon from the 29.53-day synodic cycle, and shower windows from the standard annual calendar. Constellation positions are approximate, and everything is recomputed hourly for the Eastern Time date.
Keep exploring
What-If Lab
A closer Moon, an ignited Jupiter, a ringed Earth: thought experiments with real scaling laws.
OpenAll interactives
Trip planners, a Mars terraformer, a black hole comparer, and an exoplanet finder.
OpenBlack Holes hub
Once the sky gets you looking up: the complete guided tour of the darkest objects in the universe.
OpenCosmic Mysteries hub
The Fermi paradox, fast radio bursts, and the questions the night sky still refuses to answer.
Open