February 14th, 2022 by Sarah Miles

There are a couple of aspects to getting the most out of stargazing. The first is getting to grips with your telescope; getting it set up right, using the right attachments, and generally just figuring out the technicality of the equipment. The second is choosing the best time to conduct your stargazing - when you have the best opportunities to see what the night sky has to offer.

It may seem like stating the obvious when we say that the best conditions in which to see stars, the Milky Way, or even deep sky objects such as galaxies and nebulae are when the sky is clearest and darkest. There are, however, a number of factors you can consider to determine when would be the most productive times to do it:

Moon Cycle

While looking at the moon in detail is always a joy, the night sky has so much more to offer. If you want to observe anything other than the moon, a dark sky offers the best conditions for seeing it. The less moonlight there is, the better. Natural moonlight washes out the light from stars and can leave even the most rural locations, which are usually free from artificial light pollution, no darker than a city centre when the moon is at its brightest.

There are 8 phases of the moon and the period of time from start to finish is called the synodic month and takes 29.5 days. The cycle ranges from the full moon, which produces maximum moonlight, to the new moon, where the moon is barely visible at all. Therefore, the best time for stargazing, in terms of moonlight, is the new moon. However, you can get good visibility during the few days before and after the new moon in the waxing and waning crescent phases.

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Season

The seasons will affect the darkness of the sky as well. As we get more hours of darkness in the winter, that is obviously the best season for stargazing. Astronomers will often refer to ‘stargazing season’, which runs from the time the clocks go back in the autumn to going forward in the spring. The winter solstice in December offers the longest night, and therefore it gets dark much earlier, while the summer solstice in June can see the sky hardly getting dark enough at all.

Spring and autumn tend to be the best seasons for spotting other galaxies such as Andromeda.

Weather

Moon cycles and seasons are obviously predictable, and you can access stargazing calendars online that map out the best days for dark skies for the entire year in advance. Unfortunately, the Great British weather isn’t quite as predictable. Weather conditions can always throw a curveball into your plans so it’s a good idea to keep a close eye on timely meteorological reports too.

While winter is the best season for dark skies, it can also offer the worst weather interference in terms of cloud cover. The clearer the sky, the better the viewing. The good news is you get more ‘transparency’ in the winter. Transparency refers to the clarity of the sky and usually occurs when there is no humidity or dust in the atmosphere.

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Time of Night

Obviously, as we’ve already discussed, the best stargazing can be conducted when the sky is darkest, but in practical terms you may not want to venture out in the early hours of the morning. You really just need to wait until the sun has set low enough below the horizon that twilight does not interfere with your observations.

There are actually several phases of twilight to pass through before it becomes truly dark, in astrological terms, and the duration will depend on factors such as your geographical location in relation to the equator and the time of year. Generally speaking, it becomes dark enough to observe stars properly around 1.5 to 2 hours after sunset.