SKY · WHAT'S UP TONIGHT · USA
What's in the Sky Tonight — Chicago
Tonight over Chicago: no naked-eye planets are well placed, a waxing gibbous (85% lit).
Sun & Moon positions computed for Chicago (41.9°, -87.6°) · times in local time.
Tonight's highlights over Chicago
4 THINGS UPThe best of what's above Chicago right now, pulled together from every layer and ranked — tap any to go deeper.
The Perseids are active (peaks in 18d); the radiant climbs to about 15° over Chicago, fairly low. Up to ~100/hr under a dark sky.
4-planet morning parade — 4 naked-eye planets are visible together in the morning sky around now — a "planet parade." (in 21 days).
Great Hercules Cluster (M13) rides about 82° up in the south-western sky — a binocular target from a dark spot near Chicago.
Tonight's golden hour over Chicago runs roughly 7:35 PM–8:35 PM, with true dark from about 10:13 PM.
Planets visible tonight
None of the bright naked-eye planets (Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn) climb high into a dark sky over Chicago tonight. They drift in and out of view over weeks — check back, or see where they are now on the live map.
The Moon tonight
A bright Moon (85% lit) will wash out faint stars and the Milky Way tonight.
Aurora outlook
Aurora is unlikely from Chicago tonight: Kp is 1.0, below the roughly Kp 8 needed here. It takes a stronger storm to push the oval this far.
Source: NOAA SWPC (planetary Kp) · viewing threshold from Chicago's geomagnetic latitude.
The Space Station & satellites over you
The roundup above is for Chicago. For satellite passes we can use your exact spot — tap below to get the next ISS, Starlink-train and bright-satellite passes overhead.
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.
Chicago right now
Clear skies matter as much as what's up there — a quick check of tonight's cloud cover for Chicagotells you whether it's worth heading out.
Go deeper on the sky over Chicago
SEE IT ON THE MAP
The live sky map shows the auroral oval and the day/night line in real time.