The Night Sky in Missouri
This year's meteor showers, moon phases, and the darkest places to watch from in Missouri.
Data updated: August 2026Sources & method · Corrections
The best stargazing in Missouri comes on clear, moonless nights, and January, November and December give you the most of them to work with — about 14.5 hours of darkness at the December peak, computed from Missouri'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.
Missouri's stargazing conditions split along the same line as its geography: the more built-up corridor running through St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia, and Springfield holds on to plenty of sky glow, while the rugged Ozark Highlands across the southern half of the state stay far more sparsely populated and noticeably darker after dark. On a clear, moonless night well away from those metro areas, the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye, with the crisp air of fall and winter generally giving better transparency than Missouri's hazy, humid summers. Missouri's two DarkSky-certified sites — Stacy Park in Olivette and Thousand Hills State Park near Kirksville — are both Urban Night Sky Places, a category for parks that hold on to real darkness despite city light nearby; for the deepest skies in the state, the most rural state parks and forest land still beat either of them.
Dark-sky places in Missouri
- Mark Twain National Forest — This national forest covers a large, mostly rural swath of southern Missouri's Ozark Plateau across many scattered tracts. Low population density and heavy tree cover keep stray light to a minimum, and its quiet forest roads offer easy access to genuinely dark sky well outside any city's glow.
- Ozark National Scenic Riverways — Centered on the spring-fed Current and Jacks Fork Rivers around Eminence and Van Buren, this remote stretch of the southeastern Ozarks sits far from any major metro area, making it one of the more reliably dark corners of the state for a night under the stars.
- Taum Sauk Mountain State Park — As Missouri's highest point, this park sits deep in the remote St. Francois Mountains with little development for miles around, giving it some of the more open, elevated horizons in the state for night-sky viewing.
- Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park — A short drive from Taum Sauk in the same rugged St. Francois Mountains region, this park's rural, forested surroundings make it another solid option for southern Missouri stargazers looking to get well away from town lights.
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 Missouri nights are worth the drive
The year's meteor peaks with the moon already worked out, and the darkest places in Missouri to watch them from.
The complete The Night Sky over Missouri
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 Missouri.