SKY · MILKY WAY · NEW ZEALAND

Can You See the Milky Way from Wellington?

Good news for Wellington: tonight the galactic core climbs to about 78° above the northern horizon in a dark sky. With dark skies and no Moon, the bright heart of the Milky Way is on show.

GALACTIC CORE TONIGHT · WELLINGTON
VerdictExcellent — core rides high
Core height78° up
Look towardnorthern sky
Best by12:25 AM
MoonWaxing Crescent · 6%

Core altitude computed for Wellington (-41.3°, 174.8°) during tonight's dark hours.

Milky Way season & the Moon for Wellington

Core season hereRoughly March to September, best around June.
Dark by6:05 PM
Until7:50 AM

The Moon is nearly out of the way — dark skies for faint objects.

The Milky Way is faint and easily lost to light pollution and moonlight. Even when the core is high, you need a genuinely dark sky — well away from city lights — and ideally a night near the new Moon to see it well from Wellington.

Wellington right now

A dark, cloudless sky is everything for the Milky Way — a quick check of tonight's cloud cover for Wellingtontells you whether it's worth the trip out of town.

More sky over Wellington

SEE IT ON THE MAP

The live sky map shows the day/night line over Wellington in real time.

Open the live sky map →