PLANETVenusbest ~5:45 PM
LookNW sky
Height17° up
Appearsextremely bright — the brightest "star" in the sky
SKY · WHAT'S UP TONIGHT · NEW ZEALAND
What's in the Sky Tonight — Christchurch
Tonight over Christchurch: 3 bright planets are out, a dark Moon.
TONIGHT'S SKY WINDOW · CHRISTCHURCHAs of Jun 17, 2026, 4:25 PM
Sunset5:00 PM
Dark by6:10 PM
Sunrise8:05 AM
Moon6% · Waxing Crescent
Sun & Moon positions computed for Christchurch (-43.5°, 172.6°) · times in local time.
Tonight's highlights over Christchurch
4 THINGS UPThe best of what's above Christchurch 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).
PLANETS VISIBLEplanets →
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn are above the horizon over Christchurch tonight — see where and when to look.
DEEP-SKY PICKdeep sky →
Ptolemy Cluster (M7) rides about 81° up in the northern sky — naked-eye target from a dark spot near Christchurch.
GOLDEN HOURsun moon →
Tonight's golden hour over Christchurch runs roughly 4:12 PM–5:19 PM, with true dark from about 6:43 PM.
Planets visible tonight
PLANETJupiterbest ~5:45 PM
LookNW sky
Height13° up
Appearsvery bright and steady
PLANETSaturnbest ~6:25 AM
LookNNE sky
Height41° up
Appearsa moderately bright golden point
The Moon tonight
PhaseWaxing Crescent
Illuminated6% · waxing
Moonrise10:50 AM
Moonset7:10 PM
The Moon is nearly out of the way — dark skies for faint objects.
Aurora outlook
Aurora is unlikely from Christchurch 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 Christchurch's geomagnetic latitude.
The Space Station & satellites over you
The roundup above is for Christchurch. 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.
Christchurch right now
SKY · LIVE MAPThe night side over ChristchurchEARTH · WEATHERClouds & conditions over ChristchurchOCEAN · SOONTides on the nearest coast
Clear skies matter as much as what's up there — a quick check of tonight's cloud cover for Christchurchtells you whether it's worth heading out.
Go deeper on the sky over Christchurch
SEE IT ON THE MAP
The live sky map shows the auroral oval and the day/night line in real time.