What's coming · over San Francisco

The sky has plans.

Shower windows come from the annual meteor catalog; aurora strength, tonight's shower outlook, and ISS passes are computed live over the San Francisco sky; peak dates and Kp apply everywhere, and it all refreshes through the night.

The months ahead

• Tonight

  5:25 AM

  ISS pass

  Skip

  The station appears in the NNW at 5:25 AM, climbs to 20° in the NNE, and slips away ENE at 5:30 AM, a bright, steady star gliding across the San Francisco sky.

  NNW → ENE · 5 min · 20° peak · naked eye
• Now

  next 24 h

  Aurora outlook

  At Kp 3 the visible oval reaches Anchorage, AK among the cities we cover; farther north always improves the odds. Rough guide: Kp 5+ reaches the northern-border states, Kp 7+ the mid-latitudes.

  Kp 1.7 now · Kp 3 forecast max · NOAA SWPC
• Oct 10

  in 40 nights

  Southern Taurids meteor shower

  Active Sep 10 – Nov 20, from the debris of Comet 2P/Encke. Up to ~5 meteors an hour under ideal dark rural skies at peak; city lights cut that to a fraction.

  peaks Oct 10 · naked eye
• Oct 21

  in 51 nights

  Orionids meteor shower

  Active Oct 2 – Nov 7, from the debris of Comet 1P/Halley. Up to ~20 meteors an hour under ideal dark rural skies at peak; city lights cut that to a fraction.

  peaks Oct 21 · naked eye
• Nov 12

  in 73 nights

  Northern Taurids meteor shower

  Active Oct 20 – Dec 10, from the debris of Comet 2P/Encke. Up to ~5 meteors an hour under ideal dark rural skies at peak; city lights cut that to a fraction.

  peaks Nov 12 · naked eye
• Nov 17

  in 78 nights

  Leonids meteor shower

  Active Nov 6 – Nov 30, from the debris of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Up to ~15 meteors an hour under ideal dark rural skies at peak; city lights cut that to a fraction.

  peaks Nov 17 · naked eye