What's in the sky tonight in Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa · 33.92° S, 18.42° E
Tonight's sky at a glance
Computed 2026-10-24 20:57 UTC for the night of Saturday, 24 October 2026; times are Cape Town's clock (Africa/Johannesburg, GMT+2). The live card below updates.
- Sun
- sets 19:07, rises 05:53 (dark enough for the bright stars 19:36 to 05:31)
- Moon
- Full Moon, 97% lit · rises 17:30, sets 05:02
- Planets
- Jupiter: low in the NE before dawn, from about 03:46
- Mars: low in the NE before dawn, from about 03:26
- Saturn: up 19:36 to 04:26, highest in the N around 23:16 (55°)
- Mercury: low in the WSW after dusk, until about 19:56
- Space station
- next visible pass Sun 19:53: look S, it climbs to 16° and sets in the ESE · 4 min · low; look for a steady moving light
- Sky darkness
- Bortle class 7 (suburban/urban transition): about 18.6 mag/arcsec² overhead on a clear, moonless night; artificial light 23× the natural sky
- For binoculars
- ESO 56-115 (Large Magellanic Cloud), galaxy, magnitude 0.3: best around 03:51, 54° up in the S
- M 45 (Pleiades), open cluster, magnitude 1.2: best around 02:21, 32° up in the N
- NGC 292 (Small Magellanic Cloud), galaxy, magnitude 2.3: best around 23:21, 51° up in the S
Live: tonight's sky over Cape Town
Times in the live card follow your device's clock.