The Night Sky in Arizona
This year's meteor showers, moon phases, and the darkest places to watch from in Arizona.
Data updated: August 2026Sources & method · Corrections
The best stargazing in Arizona comes on clear, moonless nights, and January, November and December give you the most of them to work with — about 14.1 hours of darkness at the December peak, computed from Arizona's own sun times. Below: this year's meteor-shower peaks and how bright the moon will be for each, a month-by-month new- and full-moon calendar, and the darkest places to watch from.
Arizona's skies are among the darkest and most reliable in the country, thanks to its high elevation, dry desert air, and enormous stretches of public land far from city lights. Low humidity and a high number of clear nights each year keep the atmosphere exceptionally transparent for viewing faint stars and the Milky Way. The darkest skies are found away from the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas, particularly across the state's northern plateau country and the remote desert and mountain ranges of the south and east.
Dark-sky places in Arizona
- Grand Canyon National Park — An International Dark Sky Park, the Grand Canyon pairs wide-open, unobstructed horizons with a remote location far from major light sources, making it one of the most celebrated stargazing destinations in the Southwest. Ranger-led night sky programs run seasonally along both rims.
- Flagstaff and the Coconino National Forest — Flagstaff has protected its night skies with strict outdoor lighting ordinances for decades and sits surrounded by the high-elevation forests and meadows of the Coconino National Forest, making the area a longtime favorite for amateur stargazers and professional astronomers alike.
- Kitt Peak and the sky islands of southern Arizona — The mountain ranges southwest of Tucson, including the area around Kitt Peak National Observatory, are known for some of the clearest, darkest skies in the region -- one of the main reasons astronomers chose to build major research telescopes there.
- Remote public lands in southeastern Arizona — The sparsely populated grasslands and desert basins of southeastern Arizona, well away from Tucson's glow, offer wide, uninterrupted horizons and some of the least light-polluted skies in the state.
Ranger programs, star parties and opening hours change season to season — check with the site before you drive out.
The sky this month (August)
The moon in August: New moon Aug 12 · Full moon Aug 28. Darkest skies fall around Aug 7–Aug 17, near the new moon.
Meteor showers peaking in August:
| Meteor shower | Peak | Meteors/hr | Moon | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perseids | Aug 12 | 100 | 0% near-new | late evening to dawn |
Meteor showers in 2026
| Meteor shower | Peak | Meteors/hr | Moon | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quadrantids | Jan 3 | 120 | 100% near-full | after midnight into dawn |
| Lyrids | Apr 22 | 18 | 29% crescent | after midnight |
| Eta Aquariids | May 6 | 50 | 83% gibbous | pre-dawn (better in the South) |
| Southern Delta Aquariids | Jul 30 | 25 | 100% near-full | pre-dawn |
| Perseids | Aug 12 | 100 | 0% near-new | late evening to dawn |
| Draconids | Oct 8 | 10 | 7% crescent | early evening |
| Orionids | Oct 21 | 20 | 74% gibbous | after midnight |
| Southern Taurids | Nov 5 | 5 | 16% crescent | late evening (slow, bright fireballs) |
| Northern Taurids | Nov 12 | 5 | 8% crescent | late evening (slow, bright fireballs) |
| Leonids | Nov 17 | 15 | 48% quarter moon | after midnight |
| Geminids | Dec 14 | 150 | 22% crescent | evening to dawn (best all year) |
| Ursids | Dec 22 | 10 | 95% near-full | after midnight |
Moon phases in 2026
| Month | New moon (darkest) | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| January | Jan 18 | Jan 3 |
| February | Feb 17 | Feb 1 |
| March | Mar 18 | Mar 3 |
| April | Apr 17 | Apr 1 |
| May | May 16 | May 1, May 31 |
| June | Jun 14 | Jun 29 |
| July | Jul 14 | Jul 29 |
| August | Aug 12 | Aug 28 |
| September | Sep 10 | Sep 26 |
| October | Oct 10 | Oct 26 |
| November | Nov 9 | Nov 24 |
| December | Dec 8 | Dec 23 |
Which Arizona nights are worth the drive
The year's meteor peaks with the moon already worked out, and the darkest places in Arizona to watch them from.
The complete The Night Sky over Arizona
A stargazing companion for the state that does not expire: the meteor calendar, the darkest places, and how to read any year's sky.
Want it on paper? See the printable The Night Sky over Arizona.