Things to do · Ubon Ratchathani
Ubon Stargazing: A Live Forecast for Stargazing in Ubon Ratchathani
Pha Taem National Park has some of the darkest skies in Ubon Ratchathani, but it is a long drive to find out the cloud has rolled in. So we built a free forecast that tells you which nights are worth the trip, and at what time to look up.
It is live now, in English and Thai, and it updates itself through the day. Here is what it shows and how to read it.
Tonight's score
Open riseubon.com/stars and the first thing you see is a score out of 100 for tonight, with the hours when the sky will be at its best. Under 35 is poor, 35 and over is fair, 55 and over is good, and 75 and over is excellent.
Next to it is tonight's moon phase, along with the cloud, humidity and chance of rain.
The best night coming up
The line at the top of the page tells you which night in the forecast scores highest and when to go out. If tonight is not the one, it says what is holding tonight back, whether that is cloud, moonlight, humidity, haze or the risk of rain.
The forecast runs up to about two weeks ahead, so you can plan a trip around it.
Hour by hour, night by night
Below that is a grid with a row for every night and a square for every hour from 18:00 to 06:00. Brighter colours indicate better viewing conditions, and a dot marks the hours when the moon is above the horizon.
Hover over or tap any hour to see the detail: cloud at each level, how bright the moon is and how high it sits, and how high the core of the Milky Way is in the sky.
Each night in detail
The table at the bottom lists the same nights as numbers: the best stargazing window, cloud, how much of the moon is lit, the hours of darkness with no moon, humidity, chance of rain and haze.
The last column names the main thing limiting each night, so you can see at a glance why a night scores the way it does.
How it works
How the score is worked out
Every hour of full darkness gets a score from 0 to 100. It starts with how much of the sky is free of cloud, then comes down for moonlight (more for a brighter, higher moon), for humid air above 80%, for haze and for the chance of rain. A night's score is the average of its best two hours in a row. Twilight is not scored.
Questions
Good to know
Does it cost anything?
No. The forecast is free and there is nothing to sign up for.
Is it available in Thai?
Yes. Use the EN / TH switch at the top of the page, or go straight to riseubon.com/stars/th.
How often does it update?
The page fetches a fresh forecast when you open it and again every half an hour while it is open. There is also a Refresh button.
Does it only work for Pha Taem?
The forecast is calculated for Pha Taem National Park. Nearby places will often be similar, but cloud can differ a lot over a short distance.
Get a nudge when the sky is clear
We will post when a really good night is on the way. Follow Rise Ubon on Facebook or Instagram to hear about it.
Like any forecast it can be wrong, especially several days out, so check again on the day before you set off.
Chat on LINE