Gisborne, New Zealand

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

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Gisborne, New Zealand

Rocket launch

Electron | We're Not Hawking Around

Fair

Lifts off 6:00 PM

Window: 6:00 PM - 9:45 PM

Very LowExcellent
Look
S
Heading away from you
When
6:00 PM
Highest around 6:09 PM
Distance
42 mi
Climbs to
72°
Lighting
Daylight
Cloud here
0% low, 0% high
Launch site
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Go / No Go
To be confirmed
No weather forecast yet
Mission
Earth Science
HawkEye 360 is a a space-based civil global intelligence satellite network using radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation across air, land and sea and assist with emergencies, and to provide civil SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) mission.

The constellation of small satellites (named Hawk ) will collect information on specific radio signals worldwide to provide high-precision radio frequency mapping and analytics from Low Earth orbit (LEO).

In daylight it reads as a thin contrail, and only briefly.

That morning

Sunrise

6:13 AM

6:13 AM

5:46 AM Blue hour
6:13 AM Sunrise
6:49 AM Golden hour ends

Sunset

7:31 PM

7:31 PM

Too far ahead for a weather forecast. These are the sun's own times - they will not change.

6:55 PM Golden hour
7:31 PM Sunset
7:59 PM Blue hour ends

Meteor shower

Orionids

Active, around 9 an hour

Best around 4:31 AM

From 9:01 PM to 4:42 AM

Very LowExcellent
Radiant climbs to
34°
Under a perfect sky
20/hour
Moonlight
No interference
Speed
66 km/s

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. The bar also counts the forecast cloud at the best time, so a clouded-out night sits at the bottom.

Also from Halley's Comet. Fast meteors that often leave glowing trails.

Satellite

International Space Station

Modest pass, SSW to SSE

Rises 9:33 PM

Very LowExcellent
Look
SSW
Rising, then up to SSE
When
9:33 PM
until 9:36 PM
Visible for
2m 20s
Highest
21° SSE
Ends
Fades at 21°

It will not set - it flies into the Earth's shadow and fades out in a few seconds.

Moon

Waxing gibbous

71% lit

2:11 PM – 3:54 AM

ESE W
2:11 PM Moonrise
2:32 PM 4°
9:06 PM Highest, 64°
3:34 AM 4°
3:54 AM Moonset

Between the two 4° marks the Moon is clear of haze and most of what stands on the horizon.

Timetable

  • Fully dark 9:06 PM–4:37 AM
  • Moonset 3:29 AM
  • Dark, no Moon 3:36 AM–4:37 AM
  • Morning blue hour 5:46 AM–6:13 AM
  • Morning best color 5:58 AM
  • Sunrise 6:13 AM
  • Morning golden hour 6:13 AM–6:49 AM
  • Moonrise 2:11 PM
  • Evening golden hour 6:55 PM–7:31 PM
  • Sunset 7:31 PM
  • Evening blue hour 7:31 PM–7:59 PM
  • Evening best color 7:47 PM

Upcoming celestial events for Gisborne, New Zealand

Full Hunter's Moon Rises 7:49 PM in the ENE Mon 26 Oct 2026 7:49 PM Milky Way Visible 9:22 PM to 11:12 PM with no moon, 27° above the west-southwestern horizon - 10 nights 1 Nov to 10 Nov
Sun 1 Nov 2026 9:22 PM New moon Moonless and fully dark 9:40 PM to 4:00 AM Mon 9 Nov 2026 8:01 PM Full Beaver Moon Rises 7:55 PM in the ENE Tue 24 Nov 2026 7:55 PM New moon Moonless and fully dark 10:30 PM to 3:40 AM Wed 9 Dec 2026 1:50 PM Geminids Around 43 an hour
Mon 14 Dec 2026 3:12 AM Partial lunar eclipse 38% of the Moon in shadow
Thu 6 Jul 2028 6:20 AM Partial solar eclipse 68.1% of the Sun covered
Sat 22 Jul 2028 4:24 PM Partial lunar eclipse 90% of it above your horizon
Sat 15 Jun 2030 6:33 AM Total lunar eclipse Totality lasts 66 minutes
Sun 25 Apr 2032 3:13 AM Partial solar eclipse 93.4% of the Sun covered
Fri 9 Mar 2035 10:59 AM Partial solar eclipse 17.4% of the Sun covered
Wed 27 Feb 2036 6:56 PM

Every celestial event, and where else to see it