Cloudy Nights
Shares rank 15 of 17 discussion forums by recommenders
Online forum where amateur astronomers discuss optics, equipment and observing, and which people describe as a highly regarded astronomy resource.
Online forum where amateur astronomers discuss optics, equipment and observing, and which people describe as a highly regarded astronomy resource.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Highly regarded astronomy resource
“my all-time most revered astronomy resource”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A practical guide to observing the night sky for real skies and real equipment” “This is a fantastic website, so thank you for sharing it.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A practical guide to observing the night sky for real skies and real equipment” Forum for optics discussions
“another good forum for optics discussions and reviews”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Nightwatch – a Mac menu-bar app that tells you when tonight is clear” “There are astronomy forums such as CloudyNights”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Wallace the 6 inch f/2.8 telescope, building it, and hiking with it”
Other discussion forums people recommend
The four most recommended other discussion forums, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hacker News | 361 | 156 | 70% | 12 | 10 yrs17 owners | Approved |
| 261 | 988 | 21% | 13 | 14 yrs54 owners | — | |
| Lobsters | 105 | 31 | 77% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Old Reddit | 60 | 47 | 56% | 12 | — | — |
| Cloudy NightsThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“another good forum for optics discussions and reviews”
“There are astronomy forums such as CloudyNights”
“This is a fantastic website, so thank you for sharing it.”
“Thank you, I had forgotten about this website.”
“my all-time most revered astronomy resource”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.