Find the Best Nights
to Photograph the Milky Way

What is the Milky Way "core season"?

The galactic core (the bright center of our galaxy, toward Sagittarius) is only above the horizon at night for part of the year — roughly February through October in the Northern Hemisphere, and nearly year-round in the Southern Hemisphere. Outside that window, the core is up during the day and isn't visible at night no matter how clear or dark the sky is.

Why does the moon matter so much?

Moonlight washes out the faint glow of the Milky Way the same way city lights do. The best nights are close to the new moon, or nights where the moon sets before (or rises after) the core is up. A bright moon above the horizon during your shooting window will significantly reduce contrast, even under otherwise clear, dark skies.

What is light pollution?

Light pollution is artificial light — from cities, streetlights, and nearby development — that scatters through the atmosphere and brightens the night sky, washing out faint objects like the Milky Way. It's measured on the Bortle scale, from Class 1 (pristine, no visible light pollution) to Class 9 (inner-city skies where only the Moon and brightest planets are visible). For Milky Way photography, you want to get as far from light pollution as possible — even a perfectly dark, moonless night with good core visibility won't show much contrast if you're shooting from a light-polluted area.

Why is the core barely visible from far northern latitudes?

The galactic core sits far south in the sky (around -29° declination), so how high it climbs depends entirely on your latitude. From the Southern Hemisphere it can pass nearly overhead. From mid-northern latitudes it stays low near the southern horizon. Above roughly 55-60°N, it may barely clear the horizon or not rise at all for much of the year.

What altitude counts as "visible" in this forecast?

We use 10° above the horizon as a practical cutoff, since terrain, trees, and horizon haze usually make anything lower unusable for a clean shot. The day detail panel shows the exact window the core spends above that threshold during true darkness.

Are the times shown exact?

Times are shown in your location's real local time zone, including daylight saving, using astronomical dark defined the standard way (sun 18° below the horizon) — the same threshold apps like PhotoPills use. If time zone detection ever fails for a location, times fall back to a rough longitude-based estimate instead, so double-check exact sunset/moonrise times for your specific date closer to your trip.

Is Milky Way Planner free?

Yes, completely free, with no account or signup required. Everything is calculated in your browser.

A fast, sharp, wide-angle lens is the single biggest upgrade you can make for Milky Way photography. Here are some of the best options across brands, mounts, and budgets:

• Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM — ultra-wide, extremely fast, excellent coma control
• Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G — lightweight, tack-sharp wide open
• Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM — versatile focal length with beautiful rendering
• Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM — pro-grade ultra-wide zoom
• Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II — do-everything wide zoom
• Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art — one of the fastest ultra-wides made, minimal coma
• Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG DN Art — excellent astro performer, great value
• Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG DN Art — sharp corner to corner
• Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art — versatile fast zoom for Sony/L-mount
• Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DG DN Fisheye Art — great for full-arch Milky Way panoramas
• Sigma 18mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary — compact and budget-friendly
• Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM — Canon's flagship wide zoom
• Canon RF 14-35mm f/4L IS USM — lighter, more travel-friendly option
• Canon RF 24mm f/1.4L VCM — fast, compact modern prime
• Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM — legendary ultra-wide, still superb adapted
• Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S — Nikon's benchmark astro zoom
• Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S — sharp, fast, and lightweight
• Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S — great all-around wide prime
• Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED — the classic DSLR-era astro zoom, still excellent adapted
• Rokinon/Samyang 14mm f/2.8 — the legendary budget manual-focus astro lens
• Rokinon/Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 — autofocus version, still a great value
• Irix 15mm f/2.4 Firefly — purpose-built for astro with a hard infinity focus stop
• Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D — fast aperture with minimal distortion
• Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D — ultra-wide with almost no barrel distortion
• Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD — compact, affordable Sony E zoom
• Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 AF — budget-friendly fast prime, available for multiple mounts

In general, look for something in the 14-24mm range with an aperture of f/2.8 or faster — that's the sweet spot for capturing the core with clean stars and manageable noise.

• The galactic core is only visible part of the year — roughly February through October in the Northern Hemisphere, and nearly year-round in the Southern Hemisphere.
• New moon nights, or windows when the moon is below the horizon, give you the darkest and most contrasty skies.
• Get as far from light pollution as you can — even faint glow from a distant city on the horizon will wash out the core.
• Wait for true astronomical darkness (sun 18° below the horizon) before expecting the faint core to show up clearly.
• A wide-aperture lens (f/1.4-f/2.8) lets you use shorter shutter speeds and cleaner, lower ISOs.
• Use the "500 rule" (or the more precise "NPF rule") to avoid star trailing — roughly, divide 500 by your full-frame focal length for a max shutter speed in seconds.
• Shoot in RAW for the flexibility to recover shadow detail and control noise and color in post.
• Manually focus to infinity using live view zoomed in on a bright star — autofocus almost always fails in the dark.
• A sturdy tripod is essential; even small vibrations will blur out faint detail.
• Higher ISO (1600-6400) is often necessary and totally fine — modern cameras handle astro noise well.
• A star tracker lets you use longer exposures with less noise if you want to push image quality further.
• Strong foreground interest (mountains, trees, water, a person) turns a Milky Way shot into a compelling landscape image, not just a star field.
• Check the cloud cover and humidity forecast, not just the moon phase — clear, dry skies matter just as much.
• Higher elevation and drier air generally mean better sky transparency and contrast.
• If you're just viewing (not shooting), give your eyes 15-20 minutes to fully adjust to the dark for the best experience.