Awesome things in the sky at amazing places, soonest first, with where to stand and when.
Darkest nights around the new Moon · 6:57 PM localSaturday, October 10, 2026
Northern lights over Tromsø
Tromsø, Norway
Tromsø sits right under the auroral oval, so on a clear dark night the northern lights are more likely than not. From late November to mid-January the Sun doesn't rise at all, so the aurora can show in the middle of the afternoon.
Tip Telegrafbukta, a beach park at the south tip of the island, is a short walk from town and dark enough on a good night. For the darkest skies, take a tour out to the fjords.
Darkest nights around the new Moon · 7:52 PM localSaturday, October 10, 2026
Aurora over Þingvellir
Þingvellir, Iceland
Less than an hour from Reykjavík, Þingvellir lies in the rift where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart. On a clear winter night you can stand between two continents and watch the aurora dance overhead.
Tip Check Iceland's cloud forecast. The sky can be clear inland when Reykjavík is cloudy.
Darkest nights around the new Moon · 8:14 PM localSaturday, October 10, 2026
Aurora in Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is one of the best places on Earth for the northern lights. When it's clear between late August and April, there's a good show most nights. Locals' advice: dress like you mean it.
Tip The best hours are usually 10 PM to 2 AM. Drive up to a ridge out of town for a dark northern horizon.
Cape Canaveral launches more rockets than anywhere on Earth: Falcon 9s most weeks, plus Falcon Heavy, Atlas V, Vulcan and SLS. Across the Indian River from the pads, Titusville has a front-row view, and the rumble arrives a few seconds after the light.
Tip Launch times slip, so check the day before. Night and twilight launches are the most spectacular.
Twice a year, the sunrise reaches 60 meters into the Great Temple and lights up the statues of Ramesses II and two gods in the sanctuary. Ptah, god of the underworld, stays in the dark beside them. The whole temple was moved uphill in the 1960s to escape a dam's lake, and the alignment still works.
Tip Crowds queue through the night. The light reaches the sanctuary about 20 minutes after sunrise.
On the night of the full Moon, and two nights either side, the Taj Mahal opens for night viewing, and the white marble glows silver-blue. From the garden across the river you can watch the Moon rise beside it.
Tip Night tickets are limited and sold the day before at the Archaeological Survey office on Mall Road; night viewing enters by the East Gate. There's no viewing on Fridays or during Ramadan.
Twice a year, the setting Sun shines straight down MIT's Infinite Corridor, a hallway a sixth of a mile long, and lights it end to end. Students pack the third floor to watch.
Tip Watch from the far east end of the corridor, on the third floor of Building 8, a few minutes before sunset.
Peak night · 11:30 PM localSunday, December 13, 2026
The Geminids in Death Valley
Death Valley, California
Up to about 150 an hour under a perfect sky
The Geminids are the year's richest meteor shower, and Death Valley is one of the darkest places in the US. Lie back on the sand dunes on a cold December night and count over a hundred an hour under a perfect sky.
Tip Unlike most showers, the Geminids start well before midnight. Bring a sleeping bag: desert nights in December are near freezing.
Karnak's great temple of Amun-Ra is lined up on the midwinter sunrise. On the shortest day, the Sun comes up along the axis through the gateways, as it did for the priests 3,500 years ago.
Tip The temple opens at 6 AM. Ask for the solstice sunrise; the site often opens a little early for it.
Newgrange is a passage tomb older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. For a few mornings around the winter solstice, the rising Sun shines through a little "roof box" over the door and down the 19-meter passage, lighting the chamber for about 17 minutes.
Tip Places inside the chamber are drawn by lottery each year. Anyone can watch the sunrise outside, and the beam shows a few days either side.
Many archaeologists think midwinter mattered most of all here. On the shortest day, the Sun sets in the gap of the great trilithon, seen from the Avenue the ancient builders walked.
Tip Sunset comes before 4:30 PM. The winter solstice sunrise is also open access the next morning.
At the equinoxes, English Heritage opens the stone circle at dawn and lets everyone walk among the stones, druids, families and photographers alike. The Sun comes up due east as the day and night are equal all over the world.
Tip Open access is free but early: the gates open before first light. Bring layers. It is chilly on Salisbury Plain at dawn.
Late afternoon · 4:50 PM localSaturday, March 20, 2027
The serpent of Chichén Itzá
Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Around the equinoxes, the late-afternoon Sun throws a row of triangles of light down the northern staircase of El Castillo. It looks like a serpent sliding down to the carved snake head at the bottom. Whether the Maya planned it or not, it's spectacular.
Tip The effect builds in the last hours before sunset and shows for a few days either side of the equinox. Expect big crowds on the day itself.
At the spring equinox, the Sun rises exactly over the central tower of Angkor Wat when seen from the western entrance. It's the moment the temple's builders aligned it for, and the reflection pools double it.
Tip Get a ticket the day before and be at the causeway by 5 AM for a spot by the north reflection pool.
Chicago's street grid runs almost exactly east-west, so at the equinoxes the Sun sets straight down the streets of the Loop. It lights the canyons between the skyscrapers and turns the L tracks gold.
Tip Try Adams, Monroe or Madison, or a bridge over the river for a clear horizon.
Darkest nights around the new Moon · 7:57 PM localTuesday, April 6, 2027
The Milky Way over the Atacama
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
The Atacama is the driest desert on Earth, high and cloudless. That's why the world's biggest telescopes are built here. On a moonless night the Milky Way is bright enough to cast shadows, and the Magellanic Clouds hang beside it.
Tip Southern autumn and winter put the bright core of the Milky Way overhead. Take a star tour; the guides are excellent.
Darkest nights around the new Moon · 8:09 PM localWednesday, April 7, 2027
Stars over Uluru
Uluru, Australia
Deep in Australia's Red Centre, the sky goes from Uluru glowing red at sunset to a Milky Way so bright it seems close enough to touch. The Anangu people see figures in its dark lanes as well as its stars.
Tip From April to September the Milky Way's core passes overhead. Stay for full dark, about an hour after sunset.
The Sun at midnight · 11:59 PM localFriday, May 14, 2027
The midnight Sun at North Cape
North Cape, Norway
Every night until July 29
From mid-May to late July, the Sun never sets at Europe's northern edge. At midnight it skims along the northern horizon above the Arctic Ocean, seen from a cliff 300 meters high, before climbing again.
Tip Arrive by 11 PM. The globe monument faces due north and the Sun is lowest right around midnight.
Twice a year, the setting Sun lines up exactly with Manhattan's street grid and pours down the cross streets, lighting both sides of the canyon gold. Neil deGrasse Tyson gave it the name. Crowds stop traffic on 42nd Street to photograph it.
Tip Get there half an hour early. 14th, 23rd, 34th and 57th Streets line up too. The day before or after gives the half Sun on the horizon instead of the whole disc.
On the longest day, the Sun rises just beside the Heel Stone along the monument's great axis, as it has for 4,500 years. Thousands stay up all night on the plain to see it.
Tip The solstice sunrise is the busiest night of the year here. Check English Heritage's open-access times, and expect drums.
At the June solstice, winter in the Andes, the first sunlight falls through a window of the Temple of the Sun onto the carved rock inside. Days later, Cusco celebrates Inti Raymi, the Inca festival of the Sun.
Tip Book the first entry slot and an early bus from Aguas Calientes. Inti Raymi in Cusco is on June 24.
Totality begins · 1:02 PM localMonday, August 2, 2027
The eclipse of the century at Luxor
Luxor, Egypt
Totality 6 min 22 s · Sun 82° up
On August 2, 2027, the Moon covers the Sun for over six minutes above Luxor: the longest totality on land for the rest of this century. The Sun will be almost straight overhead in a desert sky that is nearly always clear in August. Think temples, pharaohs, and daytime stars.
Tip Book early: Luxor will be full. Bring eclipse glasses for the partial phases, take them off only for totality, and drink plenty of water.
Peak night · 11:30 PM localThursday, August 12, 2027
The Perseids at Cherry Springs
Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania
Up to about 100 an hour under a perfect sky
Cherry Springs has some of the darkest skies on the US East Coast, and in August the Perseids put on the summer's best meteor shower. Warm nights, a field full of people on blankets, and a meteor every minute or so.
Tip The best rates come after midnight, once the shower's radiant has climbed. No white lights on the field.
Totality begins · 2:00 PM localSaturday, July 22, 2028
Total eclipse over Sydney
Sydney, Australia
Totality 3 min 41 s · Sun 29° up
In July 2028 the Moon's shadow crosses Australia and goes right over Sydney Harbour, the city's first total eclipse since 1857. Picture totality above the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the middle of the day.
Tip It's winter there, so clear mornings are likely but not certain. Any harbourside spot works. Keep an eye on the forecast and be ready to move.
On June 25-26, 2029, the Moon spends over an hour and a half in Earth's shadow, one of the longest total lunar eclipses of the century. On one of the most remote islands on Earth, it hangs high and red over the moai of Ahu Tahai, right at the edge of town.
Tip No glasses needed for a lunar eclipse. The Moon turns deepest red in the middle of totality.
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