- Excellent
- Very good
- Good
- Fair
- Limited
- Poor
- Very poor
- Almost none
- None
- Certified dark sky place
Minamitane, Kagoshima, Japan
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Rocket launch
H3-24 | Martian Moons eXploration
Good
Lifts off 4:41 AM
Window: 4:41 AM (instantaneous)
The mission includes a small French/German rover to explore the surface of Phobos.
A bright climbing star and a flame. The vehicle is in shadow itself, so there is no lit plume behind it.
That morning
Sunrise
Fair
6:21 AM
No cloud overhead to catch the color, so it shows on the horizon and any distant clouds as the sun comes up - learned from 79 rated clear past sunrises across every place Sky Time tracks.
Sunset
Low
5:39 PM
No cloud overhead to catch the color, so it shows on the horizon and any distant clouds just before the sun goes - learned from 68 rated clear past sunsets across every place Sky Time tracks.
Meteor shower
Orionids
Active, around 17 an hour
Best around 4:40 AM
From 7:10 PM to 4:52 AM
The rate at the top is how many you might really see from a dark spot here, allowing for how high the shower climbs and for moonlight. "Under a perfect sky" is the best case. Clouds are not counted here: check the sunset page for those.
Also from Halley's Comet. Fast meteors that often leave glowing trails.
Satellite
Tiangong space station
Modest pass, SW to SSW
Rises 7:23 PM
It will not set - it flies into the Earth's shadow and fades out in a few seconds.
Moon
Waxing gibbous
64% lit
2:12 PM – 1:09 AM
Between the two 4° marks the Moon is clear of haze and most of what stands on the horizon.
Weather forecast
Upcoming celestial events for Minamitane, Kagoshima, Japan
Nothing of that kind is coming up here. Try another category.