🌙 Tonight's Sky in Madrid — Sat, October 17, 2026

On Sat, October 17, 2026 the Sun sets over Madrid at 19:32; astronomical twilight ends at 21:02 and the sky is fully dark for 9.9 hours until 06:58, with sunrise at 08:28. The Moon is a first quarter (43.7% lit) and is already up at dusk, setting at 00:03 — after that the sky is moonless.

Naked-eye planets tonight: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn. Jupiter rises in the east at 03:13 and climbs to 52° in the southeast by 08:01 before dawn. Mars rises in the northeast at 02:15 and climbs to 62° in the southeast by 08:01 before dawn. Saturn is already 10° up in the east at dusk, peaks at 51° in the south at 01:10, and sets in the west at 07:18. Uranus (binoculars/telescope) rises in the northeast at 21:22 and climbs to 71° in the south by 04:41 before dawn. Neptune (binoculars/telescope) is already 15° up in the east at dusk, peaks at 49° in the south at 00:40, and sets in the west at 06:40. Venus is too close to the Sun to be seen tonight. Mercury stays too low on the horizon.

The International Space Station crosses from east to east-northeast between 05:42 and 05:45, reaching 11° and shining like a bright star to the naked eye — it pops out of Earth's shadow at 05:42. There are 2 visible passes tonight in total. Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS (JPL mag. 15) is highest at 21:29, 56° in the south; Comet 2P/Encke (JPL mag. 17.1) is highest at 00:39, 68° in the south — both remain telescope/imaging targets. Kp is 1 (quiet), so aurora is possible only above about 64.9° geomagnetic latitude — not expected from Madrid (latitude 40.4°). Coming up: Orionid meteor shower peak in 4 days, Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS perihelion in 41 days, Geminid meteor shower peak in 57 days.