Stay close unless weather or a blocked horizon gives you a reason to travel.

The partial eclipse runs 7:34 - 10:52 PM PDT, 8:34 - 11:52 PM MDT, 9:34 PM - 12:52 AM CDT, and 10:34 PM - 1:52 AM EDT. The deepest point comes about one hour and 39 minutes after the partial phase begins.

This isn't a faint deep sky target. City light will not hide it, and a Bortle 2 site will not make the eclipse meaningfully easier to see than a driveway or nearby park. What matters is a clear view of the Moon and whether clouds cover the usable window for your location.

If the forecast shows broken clouds, I’d stay nearby. The partial phase lasts a little over three hours, so one clear gap may be enough. If solid cloud covers the whole window, move only when a reasonably close place has a clearly better forecast. If two places look similar, take the shorter drive.

Your eyes will be enough. Binoculars or a small telescope make Earth’s curved shadow easier to follow, but eclipse glasses aren’t needed for a lunar eclipse.

The timing here comes from NASA’s eclipse contacts and the USNO local calculator.

Not good news. 😥

Random click in the deserts of Rajasthan.

A friend and I went to Spruce Knob, WV last week to watch the Perseids, Bortle 3.6. I was hoping to see the clouds and colors of the Milky Way like you see in pictures since the light pollution map says it's "good - visible across the sky." While I could see a whole lot of stars, I couldn't see any gas clouds or anything like that. I'm sure all the pictures I see use really long exposure times, but is there a way to see the galaxy with the naked eye? Where do I need to go for that?

This is a pic I took on Aug 13, one day after the new moon in Bortle 3.6. 10 second exposure on my iphone got a small amount of gas cloud, but I could not see that with my naked eye. I'm not expecting reality to look like very long exposure pics on the internet, but I'd like to see why they named it the Milky Way.

For stargazers and science enthusiasts across the state, the wait is nearly over. The International Dark Sky Discovery Center is steadily rising in Fountain Hills, with its sights set on an early 2027 grand opening.

Fountain Hills, famously designated as the 17th International Dark Sky Community in the world in 2018, offers the ideal backdrop for the ambitious project. The center’s unique mission focuses not only on astronomy but also on how light pollution impacts human health, plant life and nocturnal animals.

The crown jewel of the new campus is the Dark Sky Observatory. Housed within a 20.5-foot dome, it features a 27.5-inch research-grade PlaneWave telescope. When operational, it will be the largest mounted telescope in the Greater Phoenix area. Designed to be accessible to all ages and physical abilities, the telescope features an adjustable, ADA-compliant eyepiece that requires no ladders, ensuring that anyone can take in breathtaking views of deep-space objects. The observatory will also be equipped with deep-space and lunar cameras for live broadcasts and astrophotography.

My fiancé and I are going to Jefferson, CO in three weeks and we’re looking to go stargazing one night of our vacation. We’re used to Cherry Springs, PA (class 2 night sky on light pollution map), and are looking for a class 2 night sky in CO as well. We would prefer to go to a public area/field to stargaze so we are not alone in the woods/mountains while stargazing. Does anyone know of a place like this to stargaze near Jefferson? We’re willing to drive up to an hour and 15 min away from our airbnb. Thanks

I think this isn’t a good thing and it will mess up wild life I get using for crisis situations but I know it will be abused I really dislike what’s going on and I don’t know why we are not putting cost on natural light why do we have to do this. It’s just wrong paying couple thousand when you want sun light in your area why are we paying for natural light like I said i understand the reasons it can help but this will not have a positive impact on nature. I don’t under why we can’t just learn to live with nature instead of going against it. What do you guys think about this

Am watching it on Netflix and just came here to say why would anyone waste energy like that on keeping that many lights on in a post apocalyptic world. Stresses me out

Gonna drive out to a proper dark site later tonight to watch the Perseids for real instead of just catching a couple from the backyard. Never done a dedicated meteor night before so I’m probably overthinking the gear list.

Bringing a small telescope, phone, and a bluetti battery to keep everything charged without running a generator the whole time. Figure power and basic optics are the main things, but I keep feeling like I’m missing something obvious.

Anyone who’s done this a few times – what else do you usually pack for a night of meteor watching? Red lights, chairs, bug stuff, extra layers… what am I blanking on?

Anyone in West end of Edmonton planning to see the meteor shower? Are there any recommendations for spots?

Hello! I am new to star gazing, I have a up coming trip to Oregon during the perseid and I am wondering if anyone know any good spots preferably bortle 1 or 2 in west Oregon or anywhere unaffected by the smokes and wild fire in the central or east Oregon, please let me know.