These are crumbs off Halley's Comet hitting the air at forty-one miles a second. The catch this year is a fat gibbous moon that washes the sky out until it sets at quarter past three, which leaves about two and a half hours of real darkness before dawn on the 22nd.
Before you go
- The 22nd beats the 23rd even though the 23rd is the peak: the moon clears an hour earlier
- Look forty-five degrees away from Orion rather than straight at it, which is where the long ones show
- Dark runs from moonset to about 5:45, and first light is 6:31
What we checked, and when
Read off the venue's own page on 2026-09-11.
Free in the garden. Big Lagoon State Park is $6 a vehicle and darker, and a Florida veteran pass gets you in free.
Ten to twenty an hour is the no-moon ceiling. With this year's moon, five to ten in the dark window is the honest number.
It is a pre-dawn shower and a school night. The 22nd is a Thursday.