Satellite viewing from Edinburgh on the night of 23 August 2026 is rated FAIR NIGHT: 1 visible ISS, Tiangong or Hubble pass, the best reaching 14° above the horizon.The best window for satellite spotting over Edinburgh on 23 August 2026 is 21:03–05:12 BST, when most satellites are still catching sunlight. Individual satellites in lower orbits can be visible a little outside it.The best ISS pass from Edinburgh on 23 August 2026 starts at 03:59 BST, rises in the SSE, peaks 14° above the horizon and sets in the ESE, lasting about 2 minutes.
Planets at 9pm
At 9pm local on 23 August 2026, no naked-eye planets are above the horizon from Edinburgh. Planets rise and set like the stars, so the picture changes through the night and across the year.
55.95°NLatitude
3.19°WLongitude
CSTTimezone
Edinburgh (56.0°N) — the ISS can climb high overhead here, giving bright, well-placed passes.
Edinburgh sits at 56°N, and the geometry is hard: the ISS tops out around 38° low in the south, Tiangong barely clears the horizon at 6°, and Hubble never rises. That is the same arithmetic as Glasgow, forty miles west — the two cities are a tenth of a degree apart. What genuinely differs is the weather. Edinburgh is on the east coast, in the rain shadow of the Highlands, and gets substantially less rainfall than Glasgow does on the Atlantic side. For an observer that is the whole difference: the same low passes, but far more nights on which you can actually see them.
Observing notes
Evening twilight 30 minutes after sunset. Best months: September–March, when the nights are long and the sky reaches proper darkness. Avoid mid-May to early August: at 56°N there is no astronomical or nautical darkness across midsummer, and only the ISS is bright enough to attempt.
the same low passes as Glasgow — under a considerably drier sky
90°Max Elevation
NW→NERises · Sets
5 minPass Length
SATELLITE SPOTTING FROM EDINBURGH
When can I see the ISS from Edinburgh?
During twilight — roughly 35 to 45 minutes after sunset or before sunrise, later than further south because twilight runs long at this latitude. At 56°N the ISS reaches only about 38° and stays low in the south, so a clear southern sightline matters more than open sky overhead. September through March is the season. The UK observes BST in summer and GMT in winter.
What satellites are visible from Edinburgh?
The ISS, at about 38° maximum and low in the southern sky — still magnitude −4 and easy to pick out. Tiangong reaches only around 6° and is blocked from most of the city. Hubble never rises. Starlink trains show well here, because the shallow pass angle keeps them against the twilight for longer. The AST BlueBirds are marginal without an open southern horizon.
Where is the best place to watch satellites in Edinburgh?
Arthur’s Seat is unusually good for a city option — 251 m of volcanic hill inside the city boundary with an open southern aspect, which matters here because everything stays low. Blackford Hill, fifteen minutes south, is where the Royal Observatory sits and has a clear view of the low southern sky for the same reason. The Pentland Hills, thirty minutes southwest, reach Bortle 4. Galloway Forest Park is two and a half hours southwest and was the UK’s first Dark Sky Park.
Can I see satellites from Edinburgh city centre?
The ISS, yes — magnitude −4 beats the city lighting comfortably. The difficulty is that at 38° it stays low in the south, and the Old Town’s height and the ridge along the Royal Mile block a lot of that. Arthur’s Seat or Calton Hill solve it without leaving the city. Anything fainter is not realistic centrally.
Does Edinburgh’s latitude make it good for satellite spotting?
The latitude is difficult — at 56°N the ISS reaches only about 38°, Tiangong about 6°, and Hubble never rises, which is the same position Glasgow is in a tenth of a degree away. Where Edinburgh does better is climate: the east coast sits in the rain shadow of the Highlands and gets materially fewer wet nights than the west. Same geometry, more usable nights.
What is the best season for satellite spotting in Edinburgh?
September through March, and more narrowly than further south. October to February gives long nights with real astronomical darkness. Mid-May to early August is not worth planning around: at 56°N there is no astronomical or even nautical darkness across midsummer, so only the ISS is bright enough to see.
SPACE MIRROR WATCH
Edinburgh is in the coverage zone for EARENDIL-1, the first commercial space mirror from Reflect Orbital. When operational, the steerable mirror could illuminate Edinburgh during targeted passes. OrbitalSolar.ai tracks the mirror city by city →
WHAT'S VISIBLE FROM HERE
From Edinburgh (56.0°N) you have access to a wide range of satellites:
ISS →Up to about 38°, low in the south. Magnitude −4, still easy to pick out.
Tiangong →About 6° — on the horizon, and usually blocked.
Hubble →Never rises from this latitude — its orbit stays well to the south.
BlueBirds →Marginal. The low passes need a genuinely clear southern horizon.
Amazon Kuiper →Faint (mag 5). Realistically the Pentlands or further south.
BEST DARK-SKY SPOTS
Arthur’s Seat
In the city. 251 m of volcanic hill with an open southern aspect.
Blackford Hill
15 min south. Home of the Royal Observatory, and a clear low sky.
Pentland Hills
30 min southwest. Bortle 4, and high open moorland.
Galloway Forest Park
2.5 hr southwest. Bortle 3. The UK’s first Dark Sky Park.
★ BEST: September – March
Long nights with real darkness, and an east-coast climate that delivers more clear ones than the west.
✗ AVOID: May – August
No true darkness at midsummer — at 56°N the Sun stays too high all night for even nautical darkness.
VISIBILITY FROM THIS CITY: Hubble never rises from Edinburgh (56°N) — its 28.5-degree orbit stays far to the south.
Figures on this page are computed from current orbital elements and released under CC BY 4.0 — quote, republish or build on them freely with credit to OrbitalNodes.ai.
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