Milky Way Season 2027: the Dark Sky Calendar
Thirteen new moons, each with its window of core friendly dark nights, plus when the galactic core is actually up at three reference latitudes. Plan the year's shoots from one table.
New moons, dark windows and core windows
New moon dates are the U.S. Naval Observatory's published instants (UTC dates). The dark window is computed: the nights when the moon is no more than 25 percent illuminated. The three core columns give the computed window on the night of the 15th with the core at least 10 degrees up in astronomical darkness (sun 18 degrees below the horizon), at a southern, a mid latitude and a northern reference site.
| Month | New moon (USNO) | Dark window | Big Bend NP, TX (29.3 N) | Cherry Springs SP, PA (41.7 N) | Headlands IDSP, MI (45.8 N) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | January 7 | Jan 2 to 12 and Jan 31 | none | none | none |
| February | February 6 | Feb 1 to 10 | 5:05 AM to 6:10 AM | 5:30 AM to 5:30 AM | none |
| March | March 8 | Mar 2 to 12 | 4:15 AM to 6:40 AM | 4:40 AM to 5:45 AM | 5:45 AM to 6:05 AM |
| April | April 6 | Apr 1 to 10 | 2:15 AM to 6:00 AM | 2:40 AM to 4:45 AM | 3:45 AM to 5:00 AM |
| May | May 6 | May 1 to 9 and May 30 to 31 | 12:15 AM to 5:30 AM | 12:40 AM to 3:50 AM | 1:45 AM to 3:50 AM |
| June | June 4 | Jun 1 to 7 and Jun 29 to 30 | 10:30 PM to 5:15 AM | 11:00 PM to 3:25 AM | 12:15 AM to 3:05 AM |
| July | July 4 | Jul 1 to 7 and Jul 28 to 31 | 10:30 PM to 3:50 AM | 10:50 PM to 2:00 AM | 11:55 PM to 1:50 AM |
| August | August 2 and August 31 | Aug 1 to 5 and Aug 27 to 31 | 10:00 PM to 1:50 AM | 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM | 10:50 PM to 11:50 PM |
| September | September 30 | Sep 1 to 3 and Sep 25 to 30 | 9:20 PM to 11:45 PM | 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM | 9:35 PM to 9:50 PM |
| October | October 29 | Oct 1 to 3 and Oct 24 to 31 | 8:45 PM to 9:50 PM | none | none |
| November | November 28 | Nov 1 to 2 and Nov 23 to 30 | none | none | none |
| December | December 27 | Dec 1 to 2 and Dec 22 to 31 | none | none | none |
New moons: U.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department (public domain). Windows: computed by our tested model; times are local clock times at each site, and "none" means the core never reaches 10 degrees during full darkness that night.
Turning the table into trips
Work down the dark window column and cross it with your latitude's core column. A March window means alarm clock astronomy: the core rises an hour or two before morning twilight. The June, July and early August windows are the year's marquee nights, evening core at every latitude. The late August and September windows are the comfortable ones, full darkness by 9 pm with the core already up. October is the goodbye show, an hour of core right after dusk.
Notice what the northern column is telling you in June: at Headlands' latitude the sky barely reaches full darkness at midsummer, so the same new moon buys less core time than it does in Texas. That is the whole story of Milky Way season in one table row, and it is why the state pages compute their own numbers instead of copying a national rule of thumb.
Milky Way 2027 FAQ
Your state's own calendar
Every state has its own computed season page with month by month windows at a named dark sky site, the moon calendar, and where to go: start from the Milky Way season hub. For tonight's clouds and moon, use the stargazing forecast; for the other direction of the sky, the northern lights forecast.
Hero image: “Castle Geyser & Milky Way (14577475589)” — Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA — Public domain