Pretoria · Tonight, Tuesday 20 October
Tonight's sky over Pretoria
The Sun sets at 18:16 and the sky is fully dark from 19:36 until 04:08. Mercury is up in the evening, Saturn most of the night, then Mars and Jupiter before dawn. The Moon, a waxing gibbous 71% lit, sets at 02:21.
Sunset18:16
Fully dark19:36 to 04:08
Sunrise05:27
ClockPretoria time, SAST
The night, hour by hour
The sky over Pretoria from sunset to sunrise, on the town's own clock: the band shades from twilight to full dark and back, and each bar is when the Moon or a planet is above the horizon, drawn bright while it can be seen. The dot is the best moment to look.
Planets tonight
Where and when to look for each planet from Pretoria. A planet counts as visible when it is at least 5° up once civil twilight is over; Uranus and Neptune need 10° and a darker sky, and binoculars or a telescope.
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MercuryEvening
From dusk until 19:36. Best around 19:10, 11° up in the west.
Rises 06:32 · Sets 20:03 · Magnitude 0.2
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VenusNot tonight
Sets at 18:44, before the sky is dark enough.
Rises 05:20 · Sets 18:44 · Magnitude −4.2
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MarsBefore dawn
From 02:13 until dawn. Best around 04:30, 31° up in the north-east.
Rises 01:46 · Sets 12:39 · Magnitude 1.0
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JupiterBefore dawn
From 02:43 until dawn. Best around 04:30, 27° up in the north-east.
Rises 02:17 · Sets 13:27 · Magnitude −1.9
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SaturnMost of the night
From dusk until 04:25. Best around 22:50, 63° up in the north.
Rises 16:53 · Sets 04:50 · Magnitude 0.4
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UranusMost of the night
From 21:55 until dawn. Best around 02:20, 43° up in the north. Binoculars show it as a blue-green point; under a dark country sky the eye only just can.
Rises 21:03 · Sets 07:41 · Magnitude 5.7
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NeptuneMost of the night
From dusk until 03:36. Best around 22:20, 65° up in the north. Too faint for the eye: binoculars on a dark night or a small telescope show it.
Rises 16:19 · Sets 04:23 · Magnitude 7.7
The Moon tonight
Waxing gibbous, 71% lit
Rises 12:57 · Sets 02:21. Highest in the dark at 19:40, 79° up in the north. The Moon is 10.3 days old.
- Full MoonMon 26 Oct, 06:11
- Last quarterSun 1 Nov, 22:28
- New MoonMon 9 Nov, 09:01
- First quarterTue 17 Nov, 13:47
ISS passes over Pretoria
The International Space Station crosses the sky as a bright, steady point, faster than a plane and without blinking lights. These are its visible passes over Pretoria in the next five days, worked out in your browser from its latest orbit.
Working out the passes from the station's latest orbit…
Get an email before it passes
We email you on the day of each good pass over Pretoria, with the time and where to look. Free, and you can stop it any time.
The station's live position, its orbit and every pass on a 3D Earth are on where is the ISS.
The aurora from Pretoria
Pretoria is too far from the auroral oval to see the southern lights: on NOAA's rule of thumb even the strongest storm on its scale, Kp 9, leaves it below the southern horizon. NOAA calls the rule approximate, and the rarest storms have reached further, but from here the aurora is a once-in-a-generation sight.
The live forecast and the best time to look are on the aurora page for this region.
The next two weeks
Each night's sunset, its fully dark hours and the Moon. The last column is the darkness with the Moon down, the time for faint stars and the Milky Way; the best nights are marked.
| Night | Sunset | Fully dark | Moon | Dark, no Moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonight | 18:16 | 19:36 to 04:08 | 71% ↑ 12:57 ↓ 02:21 | 1 h 47 min |
| Wed 21 Oct | 18:17 | 19:37 to 04:07 | 80% ↑ 13:52 ↓ 02:53 | 1 h 14 min |
| Thu 22 Oct | 18:17 | 19:38 to 04:05 | 87% ↑ 14:48 ↓ 03:25 | 40 min |
| Fri 23 Oct | 18:18 | 19:38 to 04:04 | 94% ↑ 15:45 ↓ 03:57 | 7 min |
| Sat 24 Oct | 18:19 | 19:39 to 04:03 | 98% ↑ 16:44 ↓ 04:31 | – |
| Sun 25 Oct | 18:19 | 19:40 to 04:02 | 100% ↑ 17:47 ↓ 05:09 | – |
| Mon 26 Oct | 18:20 | 19:41 to 04:01 | 99% ↑ 18:53 ↓ 05:53 | – |
| Tue 27 Oct | 18:20 | 19:41 to 04:00 | 96% ↑ 20:02 ↓ 06:43 | 21 min |
| Wed 28 Oct | 18:21 | 19:42 to 03:59 | 90% ↑ 21:12 ↓ 07:42 | 1 h 30 min |
| Thu 29 Oct | 18:22 | 19:43 to 03:59 | 81% ↑ 22:18 ↓ 08:47 | 2 h 35 min |
| Fri 30 Oct | 18:22 | 19:44 to 03:58 | 72% ↑ 23:19 ↓ 09:55 | 3 h 35 min |
| Sat 31 Oct | 18:23 | 19:45 to 03:57 | 61% ↑ 00:11 ↓ 11:02 | 4 h 26 min |
| Sun 1 Nov | 18:23 | 19:46 to 03:56 | 49% ↑ 00:56 | 5 h 10 min |
| Mon 2 Nov | 18:24 | 19:46 to 03:55 | 38% ↑ 01:34 ↓ 12:07 | 5 h 48 min |
Coming up in Pretoria's sky
The next eclipses, meteor showers and planets at opposition, as they will look from Pretoria. Press Remind me and we email you the day before.
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Orionid meteor shower peakPeaks Wednesday 21 October 2026, 20:27, with a 79% Moon. The best hours are after midnight on the nights around the peak, away from town lights.
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Leonid meteor shower peakPeaks Wednesday 18 November 2026, 01:49, with a 55% Moon. The best hours are after midnight on the nights around the peak, away from town lights.
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Uranus at oppositionOpposite the Sun on Thursday 26 November 2026: up all night, climbing 44° high in the north around midnight.
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Geminid meteor shower peakPeaks Monday 14 December 2026, 15:45, with a 25% Moon. The best hours are after midnight on the nights around the peak, away from town lights.
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Quadrantid meteor shower peakPeaks Monday 4 January 2027, 05:25, with a 12% Moon. The best hours are after midnight on the nights around the peak, away from town lights.
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Annular solar eclipseThe Moon covers 5% of the Sun at 18:55 on Saturday 6 February 2027, -1° up in the west.
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Jupiter at oppositionOpposite the Sun on Thursday 11 February 2027: up all night, climbing 49° high in the north around midnight.
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Mars at oppositionOpposite the Sun on Friday 19 February 2027: up all night, climbing 49° high in the north around midnight.
Every event for the next two years is on the sky events calendar.
The whole sky over Pretoria, live
Our free planetarium draws the stars, the planets, the Moon and the Milky Way over Pretoria as they are right now, with the constellations named and when everything rises and sets.
Questions
What time is sunset in Pretoria tonight?
The Sun sets at 18:16 SAST on Tuesday 20 October and rises again at 05:27 on Wednesday 21 October. Civil twilight ends at 18:40, when the brightest stars and planets appear.
When does it get dark in Pretoria tonight?
The sky is fully dark, with the Sun 18° below the horizon, from 19:36 until 04:08 SAST: 8 h 32 min, 1 h 47 min of it with the Moon down. Nautical twilight ends at 19:08.
Which planets can I see from Pretoria tonight?
Mercury: From dusk until 19:36. Best around 19:10, 11° up in the west. Mars: From 02:13 until dawn. Best around 04:30, 31° up in the north-east. Jupiter: From 02:43 until dawn. Best around 04:30, 27° up in the north-east. Saturn: From dusk until 04:25. Best around 22:50, 63° up in the north. Venus cannot be seen tonight.
What phase is the Moon tonight?
Waxing gibbous, 71% lit and 10.3 days old. It rises at 12:57 and sets at 02:21. The next full Moon is on Monday 26 October at 06:11 SAST. Every phase this month is on Moon phase today.
Can I see the southern lights from Pretoria?
Pretoria is too far from the auroral oval to see the southern lights: on NOAA's rule of thumb even the strongest storm on its scale, Kp 9, leaves it below the southern horizon. NOAA calls the rule approximate, and the rarest storms have reached further, but from here the aurora is a once-in-a-generation sight. The live forecast is on the aurora page for this region.
When can I see the ISS from Pretoria?
The station is only seen when it is in sunlight and your sky is dark, so its passes come in the hour or two after sunset or before sunrise, in runs of a few days a few times a month. The passes listed on this page are worked out in your browser from its latest orbit, and pass alerts by email are free.
What is the best night for stargazing in the next two weeks?
Monday 2 November, with 5 h 48 min of fully dark sky while the Moon is down. The table of the nights ahead has every night with its darkness and its Moon.
Nearby
- JohannesburgSouth Africa · 53 km
- DurbanSouth Africa · 536 km
- GqeberhaSouth Africa · 947 km
- Cape TownSouth Africa · 1308 km
- NairobiKenya · 2873 km
- LagosNigeria · 4471 km
Every town is on tonight's sky by town. Which planets are up for anyone on Earth is on planets visible tonight, and the Moon's phase on Moon phase today.
Sources
- Positions of the Sun, the Moon and the planets: VSOP87 (Bretagnon and Francou 1988) and Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms (2nd ed., 1998), chapter 47, run as our planetarium runs them and checked against JPL Horizons
- Rise, set and twilight follow the US Naval Observatory's definitions (the upper limb, 34′ of refraction, the Sun's centre 6°, 12° and 18° down), and the times were checked against the USNO's own tables
- Planet brightness: Mallama and Hilton (2018), Computing apparent planetary magnitudes for The Astronomical Almanac
- The ISS: its orbit from CelesTrak, run through SGP4 in your browser (satellite.js)
- The aurora: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Tips on viewing the aurora, with geomagnetic latitudes from AACGM-v2 (Shepherd 2014) and the Kp forecast from NOAA
- GeoNames: Pretoria, its position and time zone (CC BY 4.0)