What conditions does Dark Skies look for?

Astronomical Night: Any. Total Cloud Coverage: ≤ 20.0%. Visibility: ≥ 12000.0m. Precipitation Chance: ≤ 10.0%. Moon Illumination: ≤ 35.0%. Moon Altitude: ≤ 10.0°

How often do conditions match?

There are 2 upcoming opportunity windows in the next 10 days.

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Rule Dark Skies

Nevşehir - Dark Skies - Cappadocia

Nevşehir, Nevşehir Province, Türkiye

Moonless nights with crystal-clear skies for deep-sky photography

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in Europe/Istanbul

Next opportunity

Pristine Dark Skies (pristine)

Nevşehir

Tomorrow · 20:41–02:00 · 5h window

Medium confidence

48%

🌛Moon Altitude-40.1-9.9°

☁️Total Cloud Coverage2.1-5%

Pristine Dark Skies (pristine)

Nevşehir

Tue, Apr 7 · 20:42–01:00

🌛Moon Altitude:-50.3--7.2°

Medium

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This forecast identifies optimal conditions for astrophotography in Cappadocia's rural areas, where minimal light pollution combines with surreal fairy chimney formations and ancient rock-cut architecture. We track moon phase, cloud cover, atmospheric transparency, and light pollution to predict when Milky Way photography captures this geological wonderland under pristine night skies.

While Göreme town itself has some light pollution from tourism, Cappadocia's rural valleys and outlying villages maintain relatively dark skies. The combination of fairy chimneys, cave dwellings, underground cities, and dramatic rock formations provides unique foreground elements for nightscape photography.

What makes Cappadocia astrophotography special:

Fairy chimney silhouettes - Iconic rock formations create otherworldly foregrounds under star fields and Milky Way
Rock citadel views - Uçhisar Castle and Ortahisar fortress offer elevated positions for 360-degree dark sky access
Ancient architecture - Selime Monastery and rock-cut churches provide dramatic carved-stone foregrounds under stars
Underground mysteries - Derinkuyu and other underground city entrances add narrative depth to night compositions

Selime Monastery carved into volcanic rock offers one of Cappadocia's most dramatic astrophotography locations—the massive rock-cut cathedral facade under the Milky Way creates compositions mixing human history with cosmic scale. Uçhisar Castle from surrounding valleys provides the iconic Cappadocia silhouette under stars, especially striking during new moon. Love Valley's distinctive formations become even more surreal under starlight, their shapes silhouetted against the Milky Way core. Ortahisar citadel surrounded by fairy chimneys offers elevated dark-sky access away from Göreme's lights. Çavuşin's abandoned cliff village takes on haunting beauty under moonlight or stars. Rose Valley's formations can be light-painted for foreground detail against star backgrounds. New moon periods are ideal for Milky Way core visibility. Summer offers the Milky Way core prominently, while winter provides darker skies and clearer atmosphere.

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72-hour requirements breakdown

What passed or failed, hour by hour

11matching hours in the next 95 hoursJump to next match

OR logic: one branch per group is enough

Meets requirement

Misses requirement

Time Europe/Istanbul	Astronomical Night Any	Total Cloud Coverage ≤ 20.0%	Visibility ≥ 12000.0m	Precipitation Chance ≤ 10.0%	Moon Illumination OR1·B1 ≤ 35.0%	Moon Altitude OR1·B2 ≤ 10.0°
Sat, Apr 4
20:00	✓	74%	24134m	49%	94%	-19°
21:00	✓	98%	23568m	46%	94%	-8°
22:00	✓	91%	23439m	15%	94%	2.2°
23:00	✓	78%	24134m	7.4%	94%	11°
Sun, Apr 5
24:00	✓	30%	24134m	0%	94%	19°
01:00	✓	6.3%	24135m	0%	94%	25°
02:00	✓	5.1%	24134m	0%	94%	29°
03:00	✕	5%	24135m	0%	89%	29°
04:00	✕	5%	24134m	30%	89%	27°
05:00	✕	5%	24134m	60%	89%	22°
06:00	✕	5%	24135m	90%	89%	15°
07:00	✕	13%	24135m	93%	89%	5.8°
08:00	✕	5%	24134m	96%	89%	-4°
09:00	✕	5%	24134m	99%	89%	-15°
10:00	✕	6.4%	20722m	100%	89%	-26°
11:00	✕	77%	15335m	99%	89%	-37°
12:00	✕	85%	5581m	99%	89%	-49°
13:00	✕	92%	5541m	99%	89%	-60°
14:00	✕	97%	14640m	99%	89%	-69°
15:00	✕	92%	12434m	99%	89%	-75°
16:00	✕	100%	15915m	80%	89%	-72°
17:00	✕	96%	22040m	59%	89%	-63°
18:00	✕	100%	22557m	39%	89%	-52°
19:00	✕	100%	21727m	39%	89%	-41°
20:00	✓	100%	24135m	39%	89%	-30°
21:00	✓	98%	24135m	39%	89%	-19°
22:00	✓	91%	24134m	26%	89%	-8.1°
23:00	✓	97%	24134m	13%	89%	1.7°
Mon, Apr 6
24:00	✓	98%	24135m	0%	89%	10°
01:00	✓	51%	24135m	0%	89%	18°
02:00	✓	71%	24135m	0%	89%	23°
03:00	✓	83%	24134m	0%	82%	26°
04:00	✓	43%	24135m	0%	82%	26°
05:00	✕	5.5%	24135m	0%	82%	23°
06:00	✕	5%	24135m	0%	82%	18°
07:00	✕	5%	24135m	0%	82%	10°
08:00	✕	5%	24134m	0%	82%	1.7°
09:00	✕	5%	24134m	0%	82%	-8.1°
10:00	✕	8.9%	24135m	0%	82%	-19°
11:00	✕	68%	24134m	0%	82%	-30°
12:00	✕	92%	24134m	0%	82%	-41°
13:00	✕	75%	24134m	17%	82%	-52°
14:00	✕	38%	24135m	33%	82%	-63°
15:00	✕	6.3%	24134m	50%	82%	-73°
16:00	✕	13%	24134m	33%	82%	-78°
17:00	✕	55%	24135m	17%	82%	-72°
18:00	✕	61%	24134m	0%	82%	-62°
19:00	✕	20%	24135m	0%	82%	-51°
20:00	✓	5%	24134m	0%	82%	-40°
21:00	✓	2.1%	24134m	0%	82%	-29°
22:00	✓	2.3%	24135m	0%	82%	-18°
23:00	✓	2.3%	24135m	0%	82%	-7.9°
Tue, Apr 7
24:00	✓	2.3%	24134m	0%	82%	1.5°
01:00	✓	2.5%	24135m	0%	82%	9.9°
02:00	✓	5%	24135m	0%	82%	17°
03:00	✓	5%	24135m	0%	75%	21°
04:00	✓	12%	24135m	0%	75%	24°
05:00	✕	7%	24134m	0%	75%	23°
06:00	✕	4.6%	24135m	0%	75%	20°
07:00	✕	2.6%	24134m	0%	75%	15°
08:00	✕	5%	24134m	0%	75%	7.5°
09:00	✕	5%	24134m	0%	75%	-1.2°
10:00	✕	5%	24134m	0%	75%	-11°
11:00	✕	5%	24135m	0%	75%	-21°
12:00	✕	4.9%	24134m	0%	75%	-32°
13:00	✕	5%	24135m	0%	75%	-43°
14:00	✕	5%	24135m	0%	75%	-55°
15:00	✕	25%	24135m	0%	75%	-66°
16:00	✕	83%	24135m	0%	75%	-76°
17:00	✕	95%	24134m	0%	75%	-79°
18:00	✕	79%	24134m	0%	75%	-72°
19:00	✕	3.2%	24134m	0%	75%	-62°
20:00	✓	0.7%	24134m	0%	75%	-50°
21:00	✓	0.5%	24134m	0%	75%	-39°
22:00	✓	0%	24135m	0%	75%	-28°
23:00	✓	0%	24135m	0%	75%	-17°
Wed, Apr 8
24:00	✓	0%	24135m	0%	75%	-7.2°
01:00	✓	74%	24134m	17%	75%	2.1°
02:00	✓	100%	24135m	33%	75%	10°
03:00	✓	100%	24135m	50%	66%	17°
04:00	✓	91%	24135m	67%	66%	21°
05:00	✕	82%	24135m	83%	66%	23°
06:00	✕	74%	24135m	100%	66%	22°
07:00	✕	82%	24135m	79%	66%	19°
08:00	✕	91%	24135m	58%	66%	13°
09:00	✕	100%	24135m	37%	66%	5.9°
10:00	✕	100%	18770m	49%	66%	-2.9°
11:00	✕	100%	13405m	61%	66%	-13°
12:00	✕	100%	8040m	73%	66%	-23°
13:00	✕	100%	5414m	81%	66%	-34°
14:00	✕	100%	2787m	89%	66%	-45°
15:00	✕	100%	161m	97%	66%	-57°
16:00	✕	100%	8152m	86%	66%	-68°
17:00	✕	100%	16144m	75%	66%	-77°
18:00	✕	100%	24135m	64%	66%	-79°

How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity). For OR groups, only one branch is required, so some OR-branch predicates can be ✕ even in a matching hour.

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