Live Sky Report
What Can I See in the Sky Tonight in Shakawe, North-West, Botswana?
New Moon moon at 0%, Venus shines at magnitude -4.4. Calculated for -18.37°, 21.84° (Africa/Gaborone).
Visible planets tonight
Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Mars — brightest: Venus at mag -4.4 in Virgo
🔭 Tonight's Sky Report
📍 Shakawe, North-West, Botswana — Thursday, August 13
Tonight's sky above Shakawe, North-West, Botswana
Whether tonight is a good night for stargazing from Shakawe, North-West, Botswana comes down to four real things: the Moon phase, cloud cover, which planets are up, and the current Kp index.
Above Shakawe, North-West, Botswana tonight (-18.37°, 21.84°), expect a new moon moon at 0% illumination. The night gives 10.1 hours of true astronomical darkness. At 18.4°, aurora needs a strong storm — roughly Kp 9 or higher — to reach Shakawe, North-West, Botswana.
Local sky character in Shakawe
Tropical / equatorial latitudes · southern hemisphere · 1000 m elevation
- The south celestial pole stands 18.4° above the horizon, so stars within 18° of it never set from here.
- About 65.8% of the whole sky rises above the horizon at some point in the year from this latitude.
- The Milky Way's core in Sagittarius culminates about 79.4° up, passing almost directly overhead.
- The Large Magellanic Cloud only reaches about 38.7° altitude, so it is a low, seasonal target rather than a year-round one.
- At 1000 m elevation, roughly 11% of the atmosphere's mass is already below you, which measurably reduces extinction near the horizon.
Shakawe is small enough that local light domes are limited — on a clear, moonless night the Milky Way is realistically within reach.
Best nights this month in Shakawe
Calculated for these coordinates and today's date — not a fixed list.
- 2026-08-13 — Darkest 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 Shakawe, North-West, Botswana.
- 2026-08-27 — Full Moon
A 99%-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.
Shakawe, North-West, Botswana stargazing questions
- What can I see in the sky tonight from Shakawe, North-West, Botswana?
- Tonight from Shakawe, North-West, Botswana expect a new moon Moon at 0% illumination, with these naked-eye planets above the horizon after dark: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Mars. The night offers about 10.1 hours of true astronomical darkness.
- Is light pollution a problem in Shakawe, North-West, Botswana?
- Shakawe, North-West, Botswana is small enough that the Milky Way can be visible on clear, moonless nights away from the immediate centre. This page's Moon and darkness figures tell you the other half of the story.
- When can I see the Milky Way from Shakawe, North-West, Botswana?
- The core reaches about 79.4° altitude, so target the moonless nights listed in the best-nights section and get away from the city core.
- How dark does it actually get in Shakawe, North-West, Botswana tonight?
- About 10.1 hours of astronomical darkness (Sun more than 18° below the horizon). That is the real observing window for faint objects; brighter targets are workable from dusk onward.
Nearby cities
Real great-circle distance from Shakawe, North-West, Botswana.
More in North-West
Other sky reports in the same region.
Sky tonight across Botswana
Other cities in Botswana with live sky reports.
Popular astronomy destinations
Aurora hubs, dark-sky sites, and observatory towns.