Live Sky Report
What Can I See in the Sky Tonight in Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey?
New Moon moon at 0%, Venus shines at magnitude -4.4. Calculated for 40.29°, 41.54° (Europe/Istanbul).
Visible planets tonight
Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Mars — brightest: Venus at mag -4.4 in Virgo
🔭 Tonight's Sky Report
📍 Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey — Thursday, August 13
Tonight's sky above Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey
Whether tonight is a good night for stargazing from Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey comes down to four real things: the Moon phase, cloud cover, which planets are up, and the current Kp index.
Above Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey tonight (40.29°, 41.54°), expect a new moon moon at 0% illumination. The night gives 6.7 hours of true astronomical darkness. At 40.3°, aurora needs a strong storm — roughly Kp 8.9 or higher — to reach Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey.
Local sky character in Tortum
Northern mid-latitudes · northern hemisphere · 1819 m elevation
- The north celestial pole stands 40.3° above the horizon, so stars within 40° of it never set from here.
- About 82.3% 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 20.7° up, staying low, so a clear southern horizon matters.
- At 1819 m elevation, roughly 19% of the atmosphere's mass is already below you, which measurably reduces extinction near the horizon.
Tortum 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 Tortum
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 Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey.
- 2026-08-28 — Full 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.
Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey stargazing questions
- What can I see in the sky tonight from Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey?
- Tonight from Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey 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 6.7 hours of true astronomical darkness.
- Does Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey's elevation help stargazing?
- At 1819 m you are above a meaningful fraction of the atmosphere, which reduces extinction and scintillation — the reason major observatories are sited high.
- What should I plan for observing near Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey?
- High sites reward targets that suffer most from atmosphere: planets at high altitude, faint nebulae, and the Milky Way, which culminates around 20.7° here. Cold and thinner air are the practical constraints, not the sky.
- How dark does it actually get in Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey tonight?
- About 6.7 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 Tortum, Erzurum, Turkey.
More in Erzurum
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Sky tonight across Turkey
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