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What Can I See in the Sky Tonight in Harstad, Troms, Norway?

New Moon moon at 0%, Venus shines at magnitude -4.4. Calculated for 68.80°, 16.54° (Europe/Oslo).

Moon
New Moon
0% lit
Sunset
9:58 PM
Dusk
Dark hours
Dawn
Aurora
Possible
Belt 58°

Visible planets tonight

Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Mars — brightest: Venus at mag -4.4 in Virgo

🔭 Tonight's Sky Report

📍 Harstad, Troms, Norway Thursday, August 13

Stargazing
🌙 MoonNew Moon • 0% Illumination
🪐 Visible planetsMars, Saturn
🌠 Meteor activityDraconids in 57 days
🌌 Milky WayVisible after dark, low moonlight
🛰️ ISSLoading…
🌈 Aurora
☁️ Cloud cover
🌡️ Temperature

Tonight's sky above Harstad, Troms, Norway

Harstad, Troms, Norway's sky tonight is a real, computable state — every value on this page comes from live NOAA space weather data, live orbital elements for the ISS, and astronomy-engine's ephemeris for the Sun, Moon, and planets.

Above Harstad, Troms, Norway tonight (68.80°, 16.54°), expect a new moon moon at 0% illumination. At 68.8°, aurora is possible from here whenever Kp climbs above quiet baseline.

Local sky character in Harstad

Northern high latitudes · northern hemisphere · 1 m elevation

  • The north celestial pole stands 68.8° above the horizon, so stars within 69° of it never set from here.
  • About 96.6% of the whole sky rises above the horizon at some point in the year from this latitude.
  • The Galactic Centre never rises from this latitude, so the brightest stretch of the Milky Way stays permanently below the horizon.
  • At 1 m elevation, roughly 0% of the atmosphere's mass is already below you, which measurably reduces extinction near the horizon.
  • Above 69° the observing year is strongly seasonal: mid-summer nights may never reach astronomical darkness, while mid-winter delivers very long dark windows.
Pole altitude
68.8°
Sky reachable
96.6%
Milky Way core
Never rises
Aurora borealis
Reachable

Harstad is small enough that local light domes are limited — on a clear, moonless night the Milky Way is realistically within reach.

Astronomy near Harstad

Real great-circle distances from Harstad, Troms, Norway.

  • Abisko Aurora Sky Station dark-sky place, 104 km away, 900 m
  • Tromsø Geophysical Observatory observatory, 135 km away, 10 m

Best nights this month in Harstad

Calculated for these coordinates and today's date — not a fixed list.

  • 2026-08-13Darkest night of the coming month

    The Moon is only 0% illuminated, giving the least lunar interference in the next 30 nights — the best window for the Milky Way and faint deep-sky targets from Harstad, Troms, Norway.

  • 2026-08-28Full Moon

    A 100%-lit Moon washes out faint objects, but lunar terrain along the limb is at its most striking — plan bright targets and planets instead of deep sky.

Harstad, Troms, Norway stargazing questions

What can I see in the sky tonight from Harstad, Troms, Norway?
Tonight from Harstad, Troms, Norway expect a new moon Moon at 0% illumination, with these naked-eye planets above the horizon after dark: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Mars. At this latitude the Sun may not drop 18° below the horizon tonight, so full astronomical darkness is not reached.
How likely are the northern lights in Harstad, Troms, Norway?
Harstad, Troms, Norway sits at 68.8° N, inside the latitude range the auroral oval reaches on ordinary active nights — the oval sits near 58° geomagnetic latitude at Kp 3. That means aurora is a realistic prospect here whenever geomagnetic activity lifts above the quiet baseline, not only during major storms.
What time of night is best for aurora watching in Harstad, Troms, Norway?
Auroral substorms cluster around local magnetic midnight, so the hours either side of midnight are statistically strongest. You also need real darkness: this page's dusk and dawn times mark the usable window, and in mid-summer that window can close entirely at this latitude.
Do I need to leave Harstad, Troms, Norway to see the aurora?
Harstad, Troms, Norway is small enough that local sky glow is not the limiting factor; a clear view toward the northern horizon and clear weather matter more.
How dark does it actually get in Harstad, Troms, Norway tonight?
Harstad, Troms, Norway is far enough from the equator that at this time of year the Sun stays above −18°, so astronomical darkness is not reached tonight — a normal feature of high-latitude summers, not a data error.

Nearby cities

Real great-circle distance from Harstad, Troms, Norway.

More in Troms

Other sky reports in the same region.

Sky tonight across Norway

Other cities in Norway with live sky reports.

Popular astronomy destinations

Aurora hubs, dark-sky sites, and observatory towns.

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