The Night Sky in New York
This year's meteor showers, moon phases, and the darkest places to watch from in New York.
Data updated: August 2026Sources & method · Corrections
The best stargazing in New York 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 New York'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.
New York's night sky varies enormously across the state. The New York City metro area and its suburbs create one of the largest light domes in the country, but New York also contains huge stretches of protected, sparsely populated land where genuinely dark skies survive. The six-million-acre Adirondack Park in the north — one of the largest protected landscapes in the eastern United States — keeps huge stretches of the interior naturally dark, and other large tracts of state and forest land in the Catskills and the rural southwestern part of the state hold their own pockets of low light pollution. Away from the Hudson Valley, the I-90 corridor, and other populated areas, a clear, moonless night in upstate New York can still deliver a genuinely star-filled sky.
Dark-sky places in New York
- Adirondack Park — At roughly six million acres, Adirondack Park is one of the largest protected landscapes in the eastern United States, and its low population density leaves huge stretches of the interior naturally dark, with the Milky Way visible overhead on clear, moonless nights.
- Catskill Park and Catskill Forest Preserve — A large expanse of protected forest in the southeastern part of the state, considerably less developed than the nearby Hudson Valley or New York City, with noticeably darker skies away from its busier trailheads and villages.
- Allegany State Park — One of New York's largest state parks, tucked into the rural far-southwestern corner of the state near the Pennsylvania line, with little nearby development to compete with the night sky.
- State parks and forest land across rural upstate New York — Beyond the state's largest named parks, many smaller state parks, state forests, and other stretches of public land well away from New York City, Albany, and other metro areas offer noticeably darker skies, especially where there's little nearby development to wash out the horizon.
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 New York nights are worth the drive
The year's meteor peaks with the moon already worked out, and the darkest places in New York to watch them from.
The complete The Night Sky over New York
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 New York.