PLANETMarsbest ~5:25 AM
LookE sky
Height16° up
Appearsdistinctly reddish-orange
SKY · WHAT'S UP TONIGHT · USA
What's in the Sky Tonight — Charlotte
Tonight over Charlotte: 2 bright planets are out, a dark Moon.
TONIGHT'S SKY WINDOW · CHARLOTTEAs of Jun 17, 2026, 12:25 AM
Sunset8:40 PM
Dark by9:50 PM
Sunrise6:10 AM
Moon6% · Waxing Crescent
Sun & Moon positions computed for Charlotte (35.2°, -80.8°) · times in local time.
Tonight's highlights over Charlotte
4 THINGS UPThe best of what's above Charlotte right now, pulled together from every layer and ranked — tap any to go deeper.
COMING UPevents →
The Moon meets Jupiter — The Moon passes about 3.4° from Jupiter — an easy naked-eye pairing. (tonight).
DEEP-SKY PICKdeep sky →
Great Hercules Cluster (M13) rides about 89° up in the northern sky — a binocular target from a dark spot near Charlotte.
GOLDEN HOURsun moon →
Tonight's golden hour over Charlotte runs roughly 8:03 PM–8:58 PM, with true dark from about 10:28 PM.
PLANETS VISIBLEplanets →
Mars, Saturn are above the horizon over Charlotte tonight — see where and when to look.
Planets visible tonight
PLANETSaturnbest ~5:25 AM
LookESE sky
Height36° up
Appearsa moderately bright golden point
The Moon tonight
PhaseWaxing Crescent
Illuminated6% · waxing
Moonrise8:45 AM
Moonset11:30 PM
The Moon is nearly out of the way — dark skies for faint objects.
Aurora outlook
Aurora is unlikely from Charlotte tonight: Kp is 1.0, below the roughly Kp 9 needed here. It takes a stronger storm to push the oval this far.
Current Kp1.0
Kp needed here9+
Storm levelQuiet
Source: NOAA SWPC (planetary Kp) · viewing threshold from Charlotte's geomagnetic latitude.
The Space Station & satellites over you
The roundup above is for Charlotte. For satellite passes we can use your exact spot — tap below to get the next ISS, Starlink-train and bright-satellite passes overhead.
SKY OVER YOU · TONIGHT
What can you see in your sky tonight?
We can work out the next passes of the Space Station, a fresh Starlink “train” and other bright satellites over your exact spot — plus which naked-eye planets are out tonight and where to look. Your location is used only in your browser to do the maths and is never sent anywhere.
Charlotte right now
SKY · LIVE MAPThe night side over CharlotteEARTH · WEATHERClouds & conditions over CharlotteOCEAN · SOONTides on the nearest coast
Clear skies matter as much as what's up there — a quick check of tonight's cloud cover for Charlottetells you whether it's worth heading out.
Go deeper on the sky over Charlotte
SEE IT ON THE MAP
The live sky map shows the auroral oval and the day/night line in real time.