SKY · STARGAZING · AUSTRALIA

Is Tonight Good for Stargazing in Melbourne?

Clear, dark skies tonight (about 7% cloud) with the Moon well out of the way. This is about as good as it gets — from a dark site away from city lights you'll see the Milky Way, faint stars, and any active meteor shower.

TONIGHT'S VERDICT · MELBOURNE
VerdictExcellent — a great night to be out
Night cloud7%
MoonLast Quarter · 49%
Dark from5:07 PM
Until7:31 AM

Worth looking for: Everything: planets, constellations, the Milky Way, meteor showers and faint deep-sky objects — given a dark horizon.

Live cloud reading

READING TONIGHT'S SKY…

How dark is the sky over Melbourne?

Sky class (estimate)Bortle 8 · City sky

A Bortle 8 metro; the ranges and the coast darken within an hour or two.

Even on the clearest, Moonless night, a bright city sky limits what you can see. For the Milky Way and faint stars from Melbourne, you'll want to reach a darker site — see the options below.

Darker skies within reach of Melbourne

~1.5 HR DRIVE NORTHMount Macedon / Wombat SFBortle 4–5 darker skies north.
~3 HR DRIVE SOUTH-EASTWilsons Promontory NPBortle 2–3 coastal wilderness skies.

Dark-sky designations from the International Dark-Sky Association and well-recognised dark regions. Always check access, opening hours and the weather before travelling.

Melbourne right now

More sky over Melbourne

SEE IT ON THE MAP

Live cloud cover over Melbourne, on the full map.

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