Click a constellation to highlight · Looking south
Constellations visible tonight
Orion
Best 21:30 – 01:00 · SE sky
Prime
Ursa Major
All night · Circumpolar · N
All night
Cassiopeia
Best 22:00 – 02:00 · NE sky
Good
Perseus
Best 22:30 – 01:30 · NE
Good
Hillwalker tip
Allow 20–30 mins for your eyes to dark-adapt after leaving a tent or bothy. Red-light torches only — white light resets adaptation immediately. At Bortle 2 sites like Galloway Forest you can read a map by starlight alone on a clear night.
Magnitude: +5.7 · Just naked eye In Aries · High SE by midnight Binoculars show blue-green disc
Binoculars
Mars
Rises: 03:50 — pre-dawn only Magnitude: +1.2 · Low SE horizon Best opportunity: next 6 weeks
Dawn only
Mercury
Currently behind the Sun Not visible · Returns to evening sky mid-August
Not visible
Neptune
Magnitude: +7.8 · Requires telescope In Pisces · Rises 22:30 Small blue disc at 200× magnification
Telescope
Binoculars on the hill
A pair of 8×42 binoculars weighs under 700g and transforms the night sky. Jupiter's four Galilean moons are visible as tiny points of light. Saturn's rings become apparent at 15× or more. The Milky Way resolves into individual star clusters. For hillwalkers already carrying weight, 8×25 compacts give a reasonable view at under 300g — they live in a jacket pocket.
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Lunar dayDay 13
Lunar cycle — this month
Waxing Gibbous
80% illuminated
Moonrise
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Moonset
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Distance
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Altitude now
34° SW
Next key phases
First Quarter3 July · 02:57
Full Moon--
Last Quarter18 July · 08:01
New Moon (dark)25 July · 23:11
For hillwalkers
Bright moon rising before sunset, setting after midnight. Useful for navigating open ridges without a torch. Aurora and faint stars washed out until the moon sets.
