Death Valley stargazing in December 2026

Gold-tier Dark Sky Park. Badwater and Harmony Borax Works are popular spots.

Tue 1 Dec to Thu 31 Dec 2026

Best night: Sat 5 December 2026

Dark from 18:06 to 05:16 · 10.8 h without the moon · Milky Way core: below horizon

Night of	Moon	Dark hours	Moon-free	Milky Way core	Score
Tue 1 Dec	40%	11.2	6.5	below horizon	86
Wed 2 Dec	29%	11.2	7.5	below horizon	92
Thu 3 Dec	20%	11.2	8.7	below horizon	96
Fri 4 Dec	13%	11.2	9.7	below horizon	99
Sat 5 Dec	7%	11.2	10.8	below horizon	100
Sun 6 Dec	3%	11.3	11.3	below horizon	100
Mon 7 Dec	1%	11.3	11.3	below horizon	100
Tue 8 Dec	0%	11.3	11.3	below horizon	100
Wed 9 Dec	2%	11.3	11.3	below horizon	100
Thu 10 Dec	5%	11.3	11.3	below horizon	100
Fri 11 Dec	10%	11.3	10.3	below horizon	99
Sat 12 Dec	16%	11.3	9.3	below horizon	98
Sun 13 Dec	23%	11.3	8.3	below horizon	95
Mon 14 Dec	32%	11.3	7.3	below horizon	90
Tue 15 Dec	42%	11.3	6.3	below horizon	84
Wed 16 Dec	52%	11.3	5.3	below horizon	76
Thu 17 Dec	63%	11.3	4.3	below horizon	67
Fri 18 Dec	73%	11.3	3.2	below horizon	55
Sat 19 Dec	82%	11.3	2.0	below horizon	43
Sun 20 Dec	90%	11.3	0.8	below horizon	29
Mon 21 Dec	96%	11.3	0.0	below horizon	19
Tue 22 Dec	99%	11.3	0.0	below horizon	16
Wed 23 Dec	100%	11.3	0.0	below horizon	15
Thu 24 Dec	98%	11.3	0.0	below horizon	17
Fri 25 Dec	93%	11.3	0.5	below horizon	24
Sat 26 Dec	86%	11.3	1.7	below horizon	38
Sun 27 Dec	77%	11.3	3.0	below horizon	52
Mon 28 Dec	67%	11.3	4.0	below horizon	63
Tue 29 Dec	56%	11.3	5.2	below horizon	74
Wed 30 Dec	46%	11.3	6.2	below horizon	82
Thu 31 Dec	35%	11.3	7.3	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/Los_Angeles).