Stargazing tonight · Good
On the night of Nov 12, New York has moonless dark hours 18:50–05:07 (10 hr 17 min) · moon 14% illuminated around midnight
These are the hours after the sky has become fully dark (after astronomical twilight ends) and before it starts to brighten again at dawn, while the moon is also below the horizon. With no clouds and no city lights, this is the best time to see stars. Every time is in that city's own local time (24-hour clock), for the night that starts this evening there — or the night already under way if it is before 6 a.m.
| City | Fully dark from | Moonless dark hours | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 18:16 | 18:50–05:07 | 10 hr 17 min |
| Los Angeles | 18:18 | 19:18–04:58 | 9 hr 40 min |
| London | 18:12 | 18:43–05:21 | 10 hr 37 min |
| Paris | 19:04 | 19:50–06:09 | 10 hr 19 min |
| Reykjavik | 19:31 | 19:31–06:58 | 11 hr 27 min |
| Dubai | 18:52 | 20:39–05:17 | 8 hr 38 min |
| Singapore | 20:04 | 22:11–05:36 | 7 hr 25 min |
| Tokyo | 18:05 | 19:17–04:48 | 9 hr 32 min |
| Sydney | 21:10 | 23:20–04:10 | 4 hr 50 min |
| Cape Town | 21:01 | 23:28–04:00 | 4 hr 33 min |
Each date is the evening on which the night begins. Dark hours that start after midnight are marked "after midnight". The moon percentage is for midnight of that night. Nights when the moonless hours cover most of the night are highlighted in yellow. Tap a city to switch.
| Night (evening date) | Moon (at midnight) | Moonless dark hours | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 12 (Thu) | 14% | 18:50–05:07 | 10 hr 17 min |
| Nov 13 (Fri) | 21% | 19:47–05:08 | 9 hr 21 min |
| Nov 14 (Sat) | 29% | 20:48–05:09 | 8 hr 21 min |
| Nov 15 (Sun) | 38% | 21:51–05:10 | 7 hr 19 min |
| Nov 16 (Mon) | 47% | 22:54–05:11 | 6 hr 17 min |
| Nov 17 (Tue) | 57% | 23:57–05:12 | 5 hr 15 min |
| Nov 18 (Wed) | 67% | 01:02–05:13 (after midnight) | 4 hr 11 min |
| Nov 19 (Thu) | 76% | 02:08–05:14 (after midnight) | 3 hr 6 min |
| Nov 20 (Fri) | 85% | 03:17–05:15 (after midnight) | 1 hr 58 min |
| Nov 21 (Sat) | 92% | 04:30–05:16 (after midnight) | 46 min |
| Nov 22 (Sun) | 97% | None | – |
| Nov 23 (Mon) | 100% | None | – |
| Nov 24 (Tue) | 99% | None | – |
| Nov 25 (Wed) | 96% | None | – |
| Nov 26 (Thu) | 90% | 18:09–18:27 | 18 min |
| Nov 27 (Fri) | 82% | 18:09–19:44 | 1 hr 35 min |
| Nov 28 (Sat) | 72% | 18:08–21:03 | 2 hr 54 min |
| Nov 29 (Sun) | 62% | 18:08–22:18 | 4 hr 10 min |
| Nov 30 (Mon) | 51% | 18:08–23:30 | 5 hr 22 min |
| Dec 1 (Tue) | 40% | 18:08–00:38 | 6 hr 30 min |
| Dec 2 (Wed) | 30% | 18:08–01:44 | 7 hr 37 min |
| Dec 3 (Thu) | 21% | 18:08–02:50 | 8 hr 42 min |
| Dec 4 (Fri) | 13% | 18:08–03:55 | 9 hr 47 min |
| Dec 5 (Sat) | 7% | 18:07–05:00 | 10 hr 52 min |
| Dec 6 (Sun) | 3% | 18:07–05:29 | 11 hr 22 min |
| Dec 7 (Mon) | 1% | 18:08–05:30 | 11 hr 23 min |
| Dec 8 (Tue) | 0% | 18:08–05:31 | 11 hr 23 min |
| Dec 9 (Wed) | 1% | 18:08–05:32 | 11 hr 24 min |
| Dec 10 (Thu) | 4% | 18:08–05:32 | 11 hr 25 min |
| Dec 11 (Fri) | 9% | 18:40–05:33 | 10 hr 54 min |
The date of each new moon and the Saturday closest to it, for the next twelve months. Times are for the city selected above. Use it to pencil in a Milky Way shoot or a camping trip well ahead.
| New moon | Nearest Saturday | Moonless hours, Saturday night | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 8, 2026 | Dec 5 | 18:07–05:00 | 10 hr 52 min |
| Jan 7, 2027 | Jan 9 | 18:37–05:43 | 11 hr 6 min |
| Feb 6, 2027 | Feb 6 | 18:53–05:28 | 10 hr 35 min |
| Mar 8, 2027 | Mar 6 | 19:24–04:51 | 9 hr 28 min |
| Apr 6, 2027 | Apr 3 | 20:57–05:01 | 8 hr 4 min |
| May 6, 2027 | May 8 | 23:08–03:57 | 4 hr 49 min |
| Jun 4, 2027 | Jun 5 | 22:27–03:23 | 4 hr 56 min |
| Jul 3, 2027 | Jul 3 | 22:36–03:26 | 4 hr 50 min |
| Aug 2, 2027 | Jul 31 | 22:05–04:02 | 5 hr 57 min |
| Aug 31, 2027 | Aug 28 | 21:15–03:31 | 6 hr 15 min |
| Sep 29, 2027 | Oct 2 | 20:10–05:24 | 9 hr 14 min |
| Oct 29, 2027 | Oct 30 | 19:29–05:53 | 10 hr 24 min |
Starlight is washed out mainly by sunlight, moonlight, city lights and clouds. This page looks only at the two that can be calculated in advance: sunlight and moonlight. "Moonless dark hours" means the sun is more than 18° below the horizon, so the sky is fully dark, and the moon is below the horizon too.
No. Clouds, haze and city lights are not included. Pick your date here, then check the cloud forecast before you leave. In a city centre you will see few stars even with no moon, so head for a dark place such as mountains or a remote coast.
Bright stars and planets are still visible, but the Milky Way and faint stars are drowned out by moonlight. Around full moon the moon is up nearly all night, so there are almost no moonless hours. Around the quarter moons you can use the few hours after the moon sets or before it rises.
At high latitudes — Reykjavik, and in midsummer even London or Paris — the sun never gets 18° below the horizon, so the sky does not become fully dark at all. The table shows "None" for those nights.
The bright core of the Milky Way is in the night sky from roughly March to October: before dawn in spring, most of the night in mid-year, and in the early evening by autumn. It rises higher and stays up longer the further south you are. Within that season, pick a night here with long moonless hours.
These are calculated times for the sun reaching 18° below the horizon and for moonrise and moonset. Moonrise and moonset assume a flat horizon and can differ from what you see by a few minutes. Clouds, light pollution and air quality are not included, so this page is a guide for choosing a date, not a promise of a starry sky.
This page updates automatically every day.