Satellite viewing from Miami on the night of 23 August 2026 is rated POOR NIGHT: 2 visible ISS, Tiangong or Hubble passes, the best reaching 78° above the horizon.The best window for satellite spotting over Miami on 23 August 2026 is 20:05–21:25 and 05:06–06:26 EDT, when most satellites are still catching sunlight. Between those windows the sky is dark but the majority sit inside Earth’s shadow. Individual satellites in lower orbits can be visible a little outside these times.The best pass of the night is picked from live orbital data — the one that climbs highest and stays visible longest.
Planets at 9pm
At 9pm local on 23 August 2026 from Miami, Venus is in the west-southwest, about 1 fist above the horizon. Planets shine with a steady light, unlike satellites, which cross the sky in a few minutes.
25.76°NLatitude
80.19°WLongitude
CSTTimezone
Miami (25.8°N) — the ISS can climb high overhead here, giving bright, well-placed passes.
Miami at 25.8°N is the only major US city where all three tracked spacecraft can pass directly overhead. Hubble is inclined just 28.5 degrees, so its ground track never reaches most of the country — most of the mainland US sits outside it — but Miami falls inside that band, and Hubble reaches 90° here alongside the ISS and Tiangong. The low latitude also shortens twilight: the sky goes properly dark faster than anywhere else on the US mainland, so the satellite window opens sooner after sunset.
Observing notes
Evening twilight about 25 minutes after sunset — shorter than anywhere else in the mainland US, because the Sun drops more steeply at this latitude. Best months: December–April, the South Florida dry season. Avoid June–October, when the wet season and the Atlantic hurricane months bring afternoon convection and humidity that persist well past dark.
rare geometry — all three tracked spacecraft can reach the zenith
90°Max Elevation
NW→NERises · Sets
5 minPass Length
SATELLITE SPOTTING FROM MIAMI
When can I see the ISS from Miami?
The ISS is visible from Miami during twilight — roughly 20–30 minutes after sunset or before sunrise. That window arrives sooner here than further north, because at 25.8°N the Sun sets more steeply and twilight is correspondingly shorter. Miami’s latitude gives passes reaching 90° elevation, so the station can cross straight through the zenith rather than skimming one horizon. Florida observes EDT in summer and EST in winter, so pass times shift by an hour twice a year.
What satellites are visible from Miami?
Miami can see the ISS (magnitude −4, easily visible from the city), Tiangong, the Hubble Space Telescope and the AST BlueBirds. Hubble is the notable one: inclined 28.5 degrees, its ground track covers only the tropics and subtropics, and Miami at 25.8°N sits inside that band. Hubble reaches 90° here — directly overhead — while cities only a few degrees further north never see it high at all. Starlink trains from Cape Canaveral launches are often visible within a day or two of lifting off, 300 km up the coast.
Where is the best place to watch satellites in Miami?
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and Crandon Park on Key Biscayne both give an open Atlantic horizon with the downtown light dome behind you, which matters for catching passes low in the east. For genuinely dark skies, head west: Shark Valley in the Everglades (1 hour, Bortle 3–4) is flat sawgrass with no terrain in any direction, and Big Cypress National Preserve (1.5 hours, Bortle 2–3) has been an International Dark Sky Park since 2016 — the darkest sky within reach of any major city on the US east coast.
Can I see satellites from Miami city centre?
Yes — the ISS at magnitude −4 cuts through the downtown light dome without trouble, and at 90° elevation it clears the Brickell towers rather than passing behind them. South Pointe Park and the Rickenbacker Causeway both give a clear line east over the water. Fainter targets are harder: the BlueBirds at magnitude 3 want somewhere away from direct streetlighting, and the beaches on Key Biscayne are the nearest option that works.
Does Miami’s latitude make it good for satellite spotting?
It makes it unusual. At 25.8°N Miami sits inside the orbital band of all three tracked spacecraft, so the ISS, Tiangong and Hubble can each reach 90° elevation — the only major US city where that is true, since Hubble’s 28.5-degree inclination rules out everywhere further north. The low latitude also means shorter twilight and a faster transition to full darkness. The trade-off is weather rather than geometry: South Florida humidity and summer convection cost more clear nights than the latitude gains.
What is the best season for satellite spotting in Miami?
December through April — the South Florida dry season, when drier continental air replaces the summer moisture and overnight cloud becomes far less common. January–March are the most transparent months. June through October is the worst stretch: the wet season brings near-daily afternoon convection, humidity above 80% and the Atlantic hurricane months, with cloud that routinely persists through the night. May and November are transitional and variable.
SPACE MIRROR WATCH
Miami is in the coverage zone for EARENDIL-1, the first commercial space mirror from Reflect Orbital. When operational, the steerable mirror could illuminate Miami during targeted passes. OrbitalSolar.ai tracks the mirror city by city →
WHAT'S VISIBLE FROM HERE
From Miami (25.8°N) you have access to a wide range of satellites:
ISS →Up to 90° elevation. Magnitude −4. Brighter than anything but the Moon.
Tiangong →Similar orbit. 90° from Miami. Noticeably dimmer than the ISS.
Hubble →Reaches 90° — directly overhead, which no other major US city gets. Best on dark, moonless nights.
BlueBirds →All BlueBirds visible. The Key Biscayne beaches help for the faintest.
Amazon Kuiper →Faint (mag 5). Needs Everglades or Big Cypress darkness.
BEST DARK-SKY SPOTS
Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP
20 min east. Open Atlantic horizon with the city glow behind you.
Crandon Park
25 min east. Key Biscayne sand, wide unobstructed eastern sky.
Shark Valley, Everglades
1 hr west. Bortle 3–4. Flat sawgrass, no terrain in any direction.
Big Cypress Nat. Preserve
1.5 hr west. Bortle 2–3. International Dark Sky Park since 2016.
★ BEST: December – April
South Florida dry season — drier continental air replaces the summer moisture, and January–March give the most transparent nights of the year.
✗ AVOID: June – October
Wet season and Atlantic hurricane months — daily afternoon convection, very high humidity and frequent overnight cloud make most nights unusable.
VISIBILITY FROM THIS CITY: Hubble reaches 90° from Miami (25.8°N) — directly overhead, unique among major US cities.
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.
Tonight