Tonight · South Africa
Tonight’s sky in Johannesburg
A great night in Johannesburg, South Africa: dark from 19:50 until the Moon rises at 03:13. Tonight’s highlight is the Mars & Jupiter conjunction, in the north-east at 03:51. Saturn is high in the north at 21:42; the Orion Nebula is high in the north at 02:42.
Worked out for the night of Thu 5 Nov 2026, on Johannesburg’s clock (GMT+2).
Mars & Jupiter conjunction
Best atWhen it is dark
| Sunset | |
|---|---|
| Dark from | |
| Dark until | |
| Sunrise | |
| Hours of darkness | 8 h 01 min |
The Sun does not get 18° below the horizon here tonight, so the sky never goes fully dark: these are the darkest hours there are.
The Moon
Waning Crescent, 12% lit. It rises at 03:13. Every phase for the year ahead.
Planets
| Planet | Well up | Best | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturn | – | 63° up in the north | |
| Neptune · binoculars or a telescope | – | 64° up in the north | |
| Uranus · binoculars or a telescope | – | 43° up in the north | |
| Jupiter | – | 28° up in the north-east | |
| Mars | – | 29° up in the north-east | |
| Venus | – | 15° up in the east |
Best to look at
- Mars & Jupiter conjunction, at : 31° up in the north-east.
- Saturn, at : 63° up in the north.
- Orion Nebula, at : 69° up in the north.
The week ahead
| Night | Dark | Moon | Sky |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 5 Nov | – | Moon only 12% lit | Dark |
| Fri 6 Nov | – | Moon only 6% lit | Dark |
| Sat 7 Nov | – | Moon down all night | Dark |
| Sun 8 Nov | – | Moon down all night | Dark |
| Mon 9 Nov | – | Moon down all night | Dark |
| Tue 10 Nov | – | Moon down all night | Dark |
| Wed 11 Nov | – | Moon only 7% lit | Dark |
| Thu 12 Nov | – | Moon only 12% lit | Dark |
The nearest city with a page of its own: tonight in Maputo, Mozambique.
How it is worked out: the Sun, the Moon and the planets from the same ephemerides the sky map draws, for Johannesburg at 26.20°S, 28.04°E, with a flat horizon and the light-pollution atlas’s estimate of its sky. Dark means the Sun 18° below the horizon; a planet counts once it is 10° up. The methods and their measured errors.