The Night Sky in Iowa
This year's meteor showers, moon phases, and the darkest places to watch from in Iowa.
Data updated: August 2026Sources & method · Corrections
The best stargazing in Iowa comes on clear, moonless nights, and January, November and December give you the most of them to work with — about 14.9 hours of darkness at the December peak, computed from Iowa'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.
Iowa is almost entirely farmland, so its light pollution comes less from a few big cities than from thousands of small towns, grain elevators, and farmstead yard lights spread across the state, which keeps truly dark skies harder to find than in more sparsely populated western states. The largest light domes sit over Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and the Quad Cities, and Iowa has no big blocks of wilderness to match, so even rural stretches rarely reach the darkest sky ratings. Still, on a clear, moonless night, the hillier, less-farmed country in the northeast's Driftless Area and the bluffs above the Missouri River in the west hold up noticeably better, and getting even a short drive past the nearest town's glow makes a real difference overhead.
Dark-sky places in Iowa
- Loess Hills — A narrow band of steep, wind-deposited bluffs running along the Missouri River in western Iowa, protected in pockets like Stone State Park, Waubonsie State Park, and Loess Hills State Forest; the region's low population and rolling, uncultivated terrain keep it noticeably darker than the row-crop farmland to the east.
- Yellow River State Forest — Iowa's largest state forest, spread across the hilly, heavily wooded Driftless Area in the state's northeastern corner near the Mississippi River, with little nearby development to wash out the sky.
- Backbone State Park — Iowa's oldest state park, tucked into a rural stretch of the Maquoketa River valley in the northeastern part of the state, well away from any large city's light dome.
- Rural public land across southern and central Iowa — Away from Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and the Quad Cities, county parks, wildlife areas, and open farm country in the more sparsely populated southern half of the state offer noticeably darker, wide-open horizons on a clear night.
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 Iowa nights are worth the drive
The year's meteor peaks with the moon already worked out, and the darkest places in Iowa to watch them from.
The complete The Night Sky over Iowa
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 Iowa.