About SkyGrade

I am an enthusiastic beginner in astrophotography myself, and I built SkyGrade because I wanted a simple answer to the question: Is tonight worth it? I also share my passion for the night sky in a club — I'm a member of the astronomy society I also share my passion for the night sky in a club — I'm a member of the astronomy society Sternfreunde Berlin & Brandenburg e. V.

Why does SkyGrade exist?

SkyGrade grew out of one very simple question:

Is it even worth setting up my equipment tonight?

When I started out in astrophotography, I had to open several weather and astronomy websites for every observing night and compare various values with each other. Cloud cover, transparency, seeing, moonlight or light pollution – all the information was there, but the actual decision was still up to me.

That is exactly where the idea for SkyGrade came from.

The idea behind SkyGrade

SkyGrade aims to make planning an observing or astrophotography night as easy as possible.

Instead of having to interpret many individual values yourself, the deep-sky score combines the most important factors into an easy-to-understand rating. This lets you judge in just a few seconds whether a look at the sky or setting up your equipment is likely to be worth it.

Among the factors taken into account are:

  • Cloud cover
  • Atmospheric transparency
  • Seeing
  • Moon phase and moon brightness
  • Astronomical darkness
  • Light pollution (Bortle class)
  • Humidity
  • Precipitation probability

More parameters will be added over time. SkyGrade is continuously evolving.

Supported regions

SkyGrade currently works reliably for all locations in the Europe/Berlin time zone – including, among others:

  • Germany, Austria, Switzerland
  • France, Italy, Spain
  • Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary
  • and other countries in UTC+1 / UTC+2

For locations outside this time zone, observation windows and twilight times may differ. Global support is planned for a later version.

Who is SkyGrade for?

SkyGrade is for everyone who loves the night sky.

Whether you are just starting out in astrophotography, already have experience, or simply enjoy observing visually – SkyGrade is meant to help you plan your observing nights better.

A hobby project made with heart

SkyGrade is a private hobby project.

I built the website because I wanted a simple way to quickly judge the quality of an observing night myself – without searching different websites and interpreting weather data on my own.

The deep-sky score is therefore not a simple weather display, but its own rating methodology that combines various astronomical and meteorological factors. In this form there is, so far, no comparable website.

What is next?

SkyGrade is still under development and is being expanded continuously. New data sources, additional rating parameters and improvements to the deep-sky score are being added step by step.

The project remains free for now. Should SkyGrade ever incur running costs, I would welcome voluntary support from the community.

If you have ideas, suggestions for improvement or have found a bug, I am always happy to receive a message.

Clear skies and enjoy the starry sky!