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

On Sat, October 17, 2026 the Sun sets over Tokyo at 17:03; astronomical twilight ends at 18:28 and the sky is fully dark for 9.9 hours until 04:25, with sunrise at 05:50. The Moon is a first quarter (40% lit) and is already up at dusk, setting at 21:24 — after that the sky is moonless.

Naked-eye planets tonight: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn. Jupiter rises in the east at 00:50 and climbs to 54° in the southeast by 05:24 before dawn. Mars rises in the northeast at 23:53 and climbs to 64° in the southeast by 05:24 before dawn. Saturn is already 11° up in the east at dusk, peaks at 56° in the south at 22:39, and sets in the west at 04:45. Uranus (binoculars/telescope) rises in the northeast at 19:03 and climbs to 75° in the south by 02:09 before dawn. Neptune (binoculars/telescope) is already 16° up in the east at dusk, peaks at 54° in the south at 22:08, and sets in the west at 04:09. 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-northeast to northeast between 03:24 and 03:27, reaching 14° and shining like a bright star to the naked eye — it pops out of Earth's shadow at 03:24. There are 2 visible passes tonight in total. Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS (JPL mag. 15) is highest at 18:59, 61° in the south; Comet 2P/Encke (JPL mag. 17.1) is highest at 22:09, 72° 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 Tokyo (latitude 35.7°). Coming up: Orionid meteor shower peak in 4 days, Comet 161P/Hartley-IRAS perihelion in 41 days, Geminid meteor shower peak in 57 days.