The Night Sky in South Dakota
This year's meteor showers, moon phases, and the darkest places to watch from in South Dakota.
Data updated: August 2026Sources & method · Corrections
The best stargazing in South Dakota comes on clear, moonless nights, and January, November and December give you the most of them to work with — about 15.1 hours of darkness at the December peak, computed from South Dakota'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.
South Dakota's small population and enormous stretches of open range and public land keep most of the state genuinely dark by national standards, with light pollution concentrated mainly around Sioux Falls and Rapid City. The Black Hills and the Badlands, in the southwestern part of the state, sit at higher elevation with drier air and see some of the clearest, darkest skies in the region. Winters bring bitterly cold but often crystal-clear nights, while the wide-open plains that make up most of the state give an unobstructed horizon for watching meteor showers and the Milky Way overhead.
Dark-sky places in South Dakota
- Badlands National Park — A remote park of eroded buttes and open prairie in the southwestern part of the state, far from any large town, with a wide-open horizon that makes it one of the most popular stargazing destinations in South Dakota on clear, moonless nights.
- Custer State Park — A large state park in the southern Black Hills, well away from Rapid City's light dome, with miles of forest and open grassland that make for dark, wide-open views away from its own campgrounds and main roads.
- Buffalo Gap National Grassland — A vast, thinly populated national grassland bordering Badlands National Park, made up mostly of open range and ranch land with almost no artificial lighting for miles.
- Rural areas across western and central South Dakota — Away from Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and the state's other towns, the ranch land and farm country covering most of South Dakota offer wide-open, genuinely dark skies on clear nights.
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 South Dakota nights are worth the drive
The year's meteor peaks with the moon already worked out, and the darkest places in South Dakota to watch them from.
The complete The Night Sky over South Dakota
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 South Dakota.