Astrophotography forecast for tonight
Set your location to see darkness, moon, hour-by-hour cloud cover from five weather models, seeing and transparency, and the deep-sky targets worth imaging tonight with your rig.
Astrophotography guides
- How to use RigTonight to plan an astrophotography rig and night
- How to build your astrophotography rig in RigTonight, step by step
- RigTonight's compatibility checks explained, and how to fix each one
- How to read RigTonight's astrophotography forecast and plan your night
- How to find deep-sky targets that fit your camera's field of view
- Save, share and take RigTonight into the field: rigs, links, night mode and offline use
- 12 beginner astrophotography mistakes, and how to avoid them
- DSLR, mirrorless or dedicated astro camera? Choosing a camera for astrophotography
- How much does astrophotography cost? Realistic budgets from $500 to $10,000
- How to build an astrophotography rig: choosing parts that work together
- How to get into astrophotography: a beginner's guide to the gear, the targets and your first night
- Stacking and processing astrophotography for beginners: a free, step-by-step workflow
- The best beginner astrophotography setup: four starter rigs, by budget
- The best telescope for astrophotography beginners: refractor, Newtonian or SCT?
- Your first night of astrophotography: a step-by-step walkthrough
- Astrophotography and the moon: when you can still shoot, and what to shoot
- Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight: when is it dark enough for astrophotography?
- How to calculate your telescope's field of view, and what will fit in it
- How to photograph the Andromeda Galaxy (M31): focal length, filters and exposure
- How to photograph the Horsehead and Flame nebulae
- How to photograph the North America and Pelican nebulae (NGC 7000)
- How to photograph the Orion Nebula (M42): framing, filters and exposure
- How to photograph the Pleiades (M45): blue reflection nebula, framing and filters
- How to stop dew ruining your astrophotography: shields, heaters and power
- Is tonight good for astrophotography? The six things to check
- Star tracker or equatorial mount? Choosing a mount for astrophotography
- The Bortle scale explained: how light pollution changes what you can photograph
- Back focus explained: how to work out the spacers for your imaging train
- Dual-band vs narrowband filters: which suits your camera and targets?
- Guide scope or off-axis guider? Getting the guiding ratio right
- How much can your mount really carry? Payload for astrophotography
- Image scale and sampling: matching your camera to your telescope and seeing
- Powering an astrophotography rig in the field: how long will your battery last?
- What to image each season: a deep-sky calendar for astrophotographers
- Which weather model should astronomers trust? ECMWF, GFS, ICON, GEM and UKMO compared