Nocturnal Lens Planner

Shooting Plan

Date

Lens

Time —

Drag the blue C (camera) pin and orange S (subject) pin. Tap the map to reposition the subject.

Show sky directions on map

SunMoonGalactic CenterDashed = below horizon

Lines point toward each object from your blue camera pin. A label saying "below" means the object is under the horizon; "above" means it is up in the sky. Terrain and obstructions aren't included.

Sun and Twilight

Sun Altitude

—

Sun compass direction (0° N, 90° E)

—

Sunrise

—

Sunset

—

Astronomical Dawn

—

Astronomical Dusk

—

Moon

Altitude

—

Compass direction

—

Illumination

—

Moonrise / Moonset

—

Milky Way and Polaris

Galactic Center compass direction

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Galactic Center Altitude

—

Polaris Altitude (approx.)

—

Moon Interference

—

Camera Framing — Canon 5D Mark II

Subject Distance

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Subject Bearing

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Horizontal Field of View

—

Frame Width at Subject

—

Light Pollution

Higher sky-brightness numbers mean darker skies and better chances of photographing faint stars.

ExcellentGreat for the Milky Way

21.7+

GoodStrong night-sky conditions

21.3–21.7

FairMilky Way still possible

20.8–21.3

PoorSkyglow reduces detail

20.0–20.8

City GlowFaint stars difficult to capture

Below 20.0

These are approximate photography guidelines, not official Bortle classes. Colors are simplified, not an exact match for the external map. Brightness is in mag/arcsec².

Sky brightness from map (optional)

Enter a number you read on the external map. The planner does not fetch a live value yet.

Enter a sky brightness value above to see its photography rating.

Saved Plans

Saved to this browser only; not synced between devices. Astronomy uses ideal horizons, not local terrain.