Tonight's sky · Thursday, October 29, 2026
Tonight over Elk Grove
Darkness
- Sunset
- 6:08 PM
- Dark enough for satellites
- 6:36 PM
- Fully dark
- 7:38 PM
- Sunrise
- 7:29 AM
- Moon
- waning gibbous, 78% lit
- Clouds this evening
- overcast
Bright planets at 7:06 PM
- Venus: below the horizon, magnitude -4.2
- Jupiter: below the horizon, magnitude -2.0
- Mars: below the horizon, magnitude 0.9
- Saturn: 23° up in the east, magnitude 0.4
That "bright star that doesn't move" is usually Venus or Jupiter. The sky turns slowly, so check the Live page for where they were when you saw something.
Satellite passes tonight
The map needs JavaScript. The table below lists every pass.
Each line is the ground a satellite passes over; the bright part is when you can see it from Elk Grove.
| Satellite | Rises | Highest at | Max height | Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A spent rocket stage (SL-16 R/B) | 5:06 AM | 5:11 AM | 79° | N → SE |
| A spent rocket stage (SL-8 R/B) | 5:22 AM | 5:27 AM | 61° | S → N |
| A satellite (ORBVIEW 2) | 5:25 AM | 5:29 AM | 73° | SE → N |
| A satellite (SPACEMOBILE-006) | 5:58 AM | 6:01 AM | 60° | SW → NE |
| A spent rocket stage (TITAN 4B R/B) | 6:04 AM | 6:07 AM | 60° | S → NE |
| The International Space Station | 6:13 AM | 6:15 AM | 27° | N → E |
| A satellite (OAO 2) | 6:17 AM | 6:21 AM | 59° | W → E |
| A spent rocket stage (H-2A R/B) | 6:25 AM | 6:29 AM | 64° | N → SW |
| A satellite (SAOCOM 1A) | 6:36 AM | 6:40 AM | 85° | S → N |
| A spent rocket stage (DELTA 2 R/B) | 6:38 AM | 6:43 AM | 81° | SW → NE |
Launches you might see
- Starlink Group 15-18 (Falcon 9): 8:48 PM, 425 km to the south. Low on the horizon: look south, up to 9°.
A launch around dusk or dawn within about 1,500 km can light up as a glowing "jellyfish" plume. All launches and who can see them.
Aurora and meteors
Aurora: quiet (Kp 1.7). Odds of seeing it from here: unlikely.
Meteor showers: Orionids, Taurids.