Cherry Springs State Park stargazing in December 2026

The darkest sky on the US East Coast. Astronomy field is open 24 hours.

Tue 1 Dec to Thu 31 Dec 2026

Best night: Sat 5 December 2026

Dark from 18:22 to 05:46 · 11.0 h without the moon · Milky Way core: below horizon

Night of	Moon	Dark hours	Moon-free	Milky Way core	Score
Tue 1 Dec	41%	11.5	6.5	below horizon	85
Wed 2 Dec	30%	11.5	7.7	below horizon	91
Thu 3 Dec	21%	11.5	8.7	below horizon	96
Fri 4 Dec	13%	11.5	9.8	below horizon	98
Sat 5 Dec	7%	11.5	11.0	below horizon	100
Sun 6 Dec	3%	11.5	11.5	below horizon	100
Mon 7 Dec	1%	11.5	11.5	below horizon	100
Tue 8 Dec	0%	11.5	11.5	below horizon	100
Wed 9 Dec	1%	11.5	11.5	below horizon	100
Thu 10 Dec	4%	11.5	11.5	below horizon	100
Fri 11 Dec	9%	11.5	10.8	below horizon	100
Sat 12 Dec	15%	11.5	9.8	below horizon	98
Sun 13 Dec	22%	11.5	8.7	below horizon	95
Mon 14 Dec	31%	11.5	7.7	below horizon	91
Tue 15 Dec	41%	11.5	6.7	below horizon	85
Wed 16 Dec	51%	11.5	5.5	below horizon	77
Thu 17 Dec	61%	11.7	4.5	below horizon	68
Fri 18 Dec	72%	11.7	3.3	below horizon	57
Sat 19 Dec	81%	11.7	2.2	below horizon	44
Sun 20 Dec	89%	11.7	0.8	below horizon	30
Mon 21 Dec	95%	11.7	0.0	below horizon	19
Tue 22 Dec	99%	11.7	0.0	below horizon	16
Wed 23 Dec	100%	11.7	0.0	below horizon	15
Thu 24 Dec	98%	11.7	0.0	below horizon	17
Fri 25 Dec	94%	11.5	0.2	below horizon	21
Sat 26 Dec	87%	11.5	1.5	below horizon	36
Sun 27 Dec	78%	11.5	2.8	below horizon	50
Mon 28 Dec	68%	11.5	4.0	below horizon	62
Tue 29 Dec	58%	11.5	5.2	below horizon	73
Wed 30 Dec	47%	11.5	6.3	below horizon	82
Thu 31 Dec	37%	11.5	7.5	below horizon	89

Questions

The best nights are Sat 5 Dec, Sun 6 Dec, Mon 7 Dec, Tue 8 Dec, Wed 9 Dec, when the sky is fully dark and the moon is down for most of the night.

Not really: in December the galactic centre is below the horizon or only up in twilight or moonlight.

Weather is not included. Times are local (America/New_York).