Visible Stars in the Sky Tonight for Places in California

What is that bright star in the sky tonight? We tell you all about the visible stars in the night sky tonight (or on a past or future date), all customized to the location that you select! Let's get out there and go stargazing tonight!

The Visible Stars tool covers every day from 1970 through 2036.

What Our Stars Tonight Tool Lists:

• Listing of stars visible tonight
• The star rise time for today, as well as the time of a star's rising on any date
• The time and altitude of a star as it crosses the meridian (i.e., the highest point in the sky)
• The time of a star's setting on any date
• The bright stars in the sky tonight (the magnitude of the star)

Most visible stars will rise and set in the night sky, just as the full Moon or the planets do. However, note that Deneb, Algol, Capella, and Vega are circumpolar stars—they never set but instead appear to circle the celestial north pole.

When a star crosses or transits the meridian, we show the time and altitude of a star when it reaches its highest elevation while passing over the horizon's southern point on the date shown. This is often the best time to see a star across the field of view of a telescope eyepiece.

Objects with an apparent magnitude of 6 or less are observable to the naked eye. The lower the magnitude, the greater the brightness; a star with a magnitude of -1, for example, is brighter than a star with a magnitude of +1.

More Astronomy Tools:

• Sunrise and Sunset Calculator
• Moonrise and Moonset Calculator
• Visible Planets Tonight