When is Milky Way season?

The Milky Way's galactic core — the bright, detailed part people photograph — rides above the horizon from roughly March through October at our latitude. Peak viewing is June through August, when the core is visible for most of the short night.

Moon matters more than clouds

A gibbous moon washes out the core entirely. We schedule around new moon windows and publish tour dates accordingly — a moonless mediocre-transparency night beats a clear night with a bright moon, every time.

What you'll see without a telescope

From our site: the core's star clouds, the Great Rift's dark lanes, and — if your eyes are fully dark-adapted — color difference between the summer and winter star fields.