What planets can you see tonight?
See the planets in your sky. Drag Time to follow them through the night.
Live sky
The sky view appears here when its calculation loads.
Local time in the selected city.
Calculating the sky for your local date and place…
Calculating the planets for your night…
Explore the five bright planets
Each guide explains what its planet looks like and where it can appear. Open one for its live answer from your chosen place.
Visibility changes with date and place. Use the live sky above for current details.
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Mercury
A small, steady point low in twilight after sunset or before sunrise.
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Venus
A brilliant pale point near the sunset or sunrise side of the sky.
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Mars
A reddish point whose brightness and viewing hours change through its orbit.
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Jupiter
A bright, steady point along the path the Sun and Moon follow.
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Saturn
A steady yellowish point; its rings need a telescope.
Explore constellations too
Start with a familiar star pattern, then open its guide or browse the constellation collection.
- Find Orion and its Belt
- Find the Big Dipper and Polaris
- Find the Southern Cross
- Explore all constellation guides
Four questions before you go out
- Is it above the horizon? A planet below the horizon is hidden by the Earth. Its rise and set times tell you when it is up. Of the four questions, this is the one Above Tonight answers directly: it shows where each planet stands for the place and time you set, with its direction, height and next rise or set. It also shows the Sun's height, which helps with the next question.
- Is the sky dark enough? Venus and Jupiter can show in twilight. Fainter planets need a dark sky. Astronomical twilight ends once the Sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon: after that the Sun no longer brightens the sky, though moonlight and city light still can. The sky map shows where the Sun is, but it does not model how bright the sky is.
- Is it high enough? Near the horizon a planet looks dimmer, and haze, trees, hills and buildings get in the way. About a fist above the horizon (10 degrees) is easier than a finger's width (about 1 degree).
- Is it bright enough for your eyes? Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be found without a telescope. Uranus and Neptune need binoculars or a telescope.
Reading direction without a compass
Compass points are bearings: north is 0 degrees, east 90, south 180 and west 270. The sky map gives each object's direction. To check it outside, use something you can see.
- Sunset. The Sun sets roughly in the west. Face the place where it went down, and north is on your right. In the northern hemisphere the Sun sets north of west in summer and south of west in winter, so treat this as a rough guide.
- The Pole Star. From the northern hemisphere, Polaris marks north. Its height above the horizon is about your latitude, so at 50 degrees north it stands about 50 degrees up.
Reading height with your fist
The horizon is 0 degrees and straight up is 90. A fist held at arm's length covers about 10 degrees (the Planetary Society gives the same rule), so "21 degrees" means a little over two fists above the horizon.
Where to look for each planet
Mercury
The closest planet to the Sun, and it never strays more than about 28 degrees from it. You find it low in the west after sunset or low in the east before sunrise, in twilight, for a few weeks at a time. It is the hardest of the five bright planets to pick out.
How to find and recognize Mercury
Venus
The brightest planet, steady and white. It stays within about 47 degrees of the Sun, so it is an evening object low in the west or a morning object low in the east, and never high in the sky at midnight.
How to find and recognize Venus
Mars
A steady, reddish-orange light. Its brightness changes a great deal from one year to the next, and it can stand anywhere along the path the Sun and Moon take across the sky.
How to find and recognize Mars
Jupiter
Usually brighter than any star, and steady. It moves slowly against the stars from month to month. With binoculars held steady you can see its largest moons as small points beside it.
How to find and recognize Jupiter
Saturn
A steady, yellowish light, fainter than Jupiter. It moves very slowly. Its rings need a telescope.
How to find and recognize Saturn
Uranus
Faint, at the edge of what the eye can see under a very dark sky. Use the sky map to find the right patch of sky, then binoculars or a telescope.
Neptune
Too faint for the eye. You need binoculars or a telescope, and even then it looks like a faint star.
Checking the sky for your own place and time
Here is the whole routine, start to finish. It works for any place, and for tonight or any other evening.
- Open the sky map and set your place and time. Choose the place you will stand, then the date and time you plan to look. The map draws the sky for exactly that moment.
- Read which planets are above the horizon. The map draws the whole sky, above and below the horizon, and marks objects below it, because the Earth hides them. Select a planet, or search for it by name, and the details tell you whether it is above or below the horizon, its direction and height, and its next rise or set time.
- Check the times. A planet below the horizon now may rise later tonight; one above it may be about to set. Move the time forward or back to see when a planet comes up or goes down.
- Run the four questions for each planet that is up. Select the Sun: when its height reads 18 degrees below the horizon or more, astronomical twilight has ended and the Sun no longer brightens the sky; moonlight and city light still can. Compare the planet's height with the fist rule, and ask whether its brightness suits your eyes or needs binoculars.
- Take direction and height outside. Use the sunset point, the Pole Star or your fist, as described above, to point yourself at the planet.
A planet above the horizon is not a promise that you will see it: the map tells you where it stands, and the four questions and the sky itself decide the rest.
What this page cannot tell you
The live sky above calculates the current view for your city, or for this device's location if you allow it, in your browser. It does not tell you about the weather: the map does not model cloud, haze, light pollution, terrain or buildings, so a planet above the horizon is not a promise that you will see it. The sky map's positions are geometric and ignore atmospheric refraction, which lifts objects near the horizon by up to about half a degree.
Questions people ask
Which planet is showing in the sky tonight?
It depends on your place and the hour. Open the sky map, set where you will stand and when you will look, and read which planets are above the horizon, with their direction and height. Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are the usual naked-eye candidates, one or two at a time.
What is the brightest planet you can see right now?
Venus, whenever it is above the horizon: it is brighter than every other planet and every star. When Venus is out of sight, Jupiter is usually next. Mars varies from faint to brilliant, and Saturn and Mercury are fainter. The map shows which of them is up.
Which planets are visible to the eye tonight?
Of the five bright planets, whichever are above the horizon in a dark enough sky: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury and Venus appear only near sunset or sunrise. Uranus and Neptune need binoculars or a telescope. Check the list on the map for your own sky.
Can I see planets from a city?
Often, yes, for the bright ones. Venus and Jupiter stand out even under city light, and Mars and Saturn can be found once you know where to look. Fainter planets and Mercury in twilight are harder. Cloud, haze and buildings still decide the result.