Cape Town, South Africa · Africa/Johannesburg
Live lunar conditions
Is tonight a Moon night?
A workable Moon night. The best window is 03:00–05:00; cloud cover looks cooperative.
Tonight's verdict
A workable Moon night
Fair
Best window 03:00–05:00 · 2 hrs · Fair (63/100)
Look ENE · 12° above the horizon · 2 hrs
Phase
Last Quarter
Illumination
40%
Next moonrise
Tomorrow 02:25
Next moonset
Tomorrow 13:40
Open-Meteo hourly forecast for 19:00 local · cached up to 20 min
Last Quarter · 40% lit
Altitude -71° · Azimuth 185° · 375,565 km
Southern-hemisphere orientation · NASA LRO surface
Tonight's outlook
The next 24 hours, without the guesswork
A deterministic viewing score, a recommended window, and the weather that could change the plan. All times are local to Cape Town.
Best viewing window
03:00–05:00
2 hrs · look ENE · 12° altitude · 19% mean cloud
Tue 3 Nov · local time in Cape Town
Viewing score
Cloud-weighted, per hour
Fair
Mostly clear during the best window
Not a scientific measurement. The index favours a Moon that is easy to see, not necessarily the sharpest surface detail.
Best time to look
Best contiguous window in the next 24 hours
03:00–05:00
2 hrs · look ENE · 12° altitude
Starts Tue 3 Nov local time. The window is the longest qualifying run at or above 50/100, selected by mean score.
Weather snapshot
Hourly forecast for the selected location
Overcast
100%
Cloud cover · 0% chance of precipitation
Moon altitude & cloud cover
Next 24 hours · local time · cloud bars rise from the horizon
Hover or focus an hour for details
Weather: Open-Meteo
| Local time | Moon altitude | Cloud cover | Precipitation chance | Score | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 2 Nov 20:00 | -70 degrees | 100% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Mon 2 Nov 21:00 | -63 degrees | 90% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Mon 2 Nov 22:00 | -53 degrees | 100% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Mon 2 Nov 23:00 | -41 degrees | 97% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 00:00 | -29 degrees | 84% | 1% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 01:00 | -17 degrees | 29% | 2% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 02:00 | -5 degrees | 9% | 2% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 03:00 | 6 degrees | 8% | 2% | 63 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 04:00 | 17 degrees | 30% | 1% | 62 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 05:00 | 27 degrees | 81% | 0% | 31 out of 100 | Night |
| Tue 3 Nov 06:00 | 36 degrees | 71% | 0% | 37 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 07:00 | 41 degrees | 81% | 0% | 36 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 08:00 | 44 degrees | 97% | 0% | 31 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 09:00 | 42 degrees | 93% | 0% | 31 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 10:00 | 36 degrees | 98% | 0% | 25 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 11:00 | 28 degrees | 99% | 0% | 18 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 12:00 | 18 degrees | 98% | 0% | 12 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 13:00 | 7 degrees | 94% | 0% | 6 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 14:00 | -4 degrees | 99% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 15:00 | -16 degrees | 97% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 16:00 | -28 degrees | 99% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 17:00 | -39 degrees | 99% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 18:00 | -50 degrees | 100% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 19:00 | -59 degrees | 99% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Daylight |
| Tue 3 Nov 20:00 | -65 degrees | 99% | 0% | 0 out of 100 | Night |
Why this recommendation
- Last Quarter at 40% illumination. The terminator gives the strongest crater shadows for the next few nights.
- The Moon climbs to about 44° around 08:00.
- Next moonrise: Tue 3 Nov at 02:25.
- Forecast cloud cover averages 19% during the best window, with a 2% chance of precipitation.
Limitations & methodShowHide
- The viewing score is a convenience index, not a scientific measurement of sky quality.
- The Moon disc on this page is phase-correct but its orientation and surface detail are schematic; libration and parallactic angle are not modelled.
Local context
Moonwatching from Cape Town
At 33.9° S, the Moon follows a relatively high arc. The disc is shown rotated for the southern hemisphere with a NASA LRO surface.
All times on this page use the IANA time zone Africa/Johannesburg, including daylight-saving changes. The weather forecast is for coordinates -33.92°, 18.42°. It can differ across a large metropolitan area.
Want a different place? Use the location selector in the header, or view the live default page.
Next lunar event
Calculated phase · local to Cape Town
Mon
9
Nov
New Moon
09:02 local · Mon 9 Nov
New Moon occurs at 09:02 local time in Cape Town on 9 November. The Moon passes near the Sun in the sky, so its Earth-facing side is unlit. Dark skies make this a good period for deep-sky observing.
Other city pages
These pages are curated, not generated for every place name. Each has the same calculated live data, a canonical URL, and a manual location selector for anywhere else. Method and sources.