2026 Milky Way Season Trip Planner

The Milky Way is one of my favorite subjects to photograph! It is constantly changing in appearance throughout the year, creating a variety of interesting shooting situations. But figuring out the best time to shoot the Milky Way isn’t always so easy. The rise and set times are constantly changing, and the phase of the moon dramatically affects the Milky Way’s visibility. When you combine all of these factors together with the weather and the time you actually have available, it can be tough to get out and shoot at the best times. Further, if you are planning travel around the Milky Way, it’s useful to have an idea of the overall picture for the year.

With these challenges in mind, each year I sit down and make a list of the best times to shoot the Milky Way for the upcoming season. My intent with this list is to aid in my own travel and trip planning, and you can use it too for that same purpose. Although I’ve applied some scientific rigor to the list below, I’ve also applied a healthy dose of subjectivity too. I’ve also made a few assumptions that may affect how you use the list. All that is to say that some amount of work on your part is still required, as you still need to plan for the conditions in the area you want to shoot. If you need help with this, I suggest taking a look at my article that introduces the subject, or my book that covers it in depth.

2026 looks like it will be one of the better years for Milky Way photography in a while! Compared to last year, the summer primetime windows are more favorable as they are a little later, which usually means better weather for most people. Additionally, the Perseid meteor shower is during a new moon this year, providing a great opportunity to add some meteors to your Milky Way images. There aren’t any great periods that overlap holidays in the US this year, but in my opinion that’s a little better as it means you might see fewer people where you are trying to shoot. My top picks for this year are the short stretch at the end of May for panoramas, and the stretch in the middle of August for the Perseids. I hope to see you out in the field this year!

Whether this is your first year with my trip planner or you’ve been following along for a while, there are a couple of important things to know:

• The dates I present here are approximate. You always need to confirm your local circumstances with an app like PhotoPills or TPE. Again, my book covers in detail the process of coming up with a plan to shoot the Milky Way.

• These dates assume a latitude midway through the United States (I used approximately the 45th parallel), and are probably appropriate for most of the United States, the southern half of Canada, most of Europe, and similar latitudes. If you are in the southern United States (or south of that area in general), you’ll have a little more flexibility in shooting situations. Specifically, the Milky Way tends to rise earlier the further south you go. The opposite is true for the northern parts of the US and Canada, as the Milky Way tends to rise later and the season is a little shorter.

• I’ve assigned a completely biased, opinionated, and subjective rating to each set of dates, with ⭐ being an okay time to shoot but not the best, and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ being my picks for the best times to shoot this year. You may disagree completely with my rating system. A ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ requires all or most of: good Milky Way conditions, some moon to light the foreground without washing out the sky, the Milky Way in an interesting configuration, and a reasonably long shooting window. These can be tricky circumstances and may not be for all photographers. Don’t discard dates that I rate a ⭐⭐⭐ or lower as these can be compelling too, especially if you have some experience shooting or are willing to brave more adverse conditions.

• I have included and prioritized dates that feature a rising or setting moon in the opposite sky as the Milky Way, and are intended for more experienced Milky Way photographers. These dates feature a 🌙 emoji in the list. The intent is to use the moon to illuminate your foreground. How good this actually is will depend heavily on your local terrain. For instance, you might have a mountain that blocks the moon on a particular date, rendering the effect moot. Or, you might be in a really light polluted area and the moon just makes it worse. But, if you can make it work, these are going to be some of the best times to shoot as it provides the most opportunity for a compelling photograph. For beginning Milky Way photographers, I don’t suggest starting with these periods as the planning can be tricky and you often have very limited time to work (sometimes a minute or less).

• I’ve also identified quality panorama opportunities using the 🌌 emoji (that’s the Milky Way emoji!). Panoramas are a lot of fun and catching the entire arch of the Milky Way before sunrise is really worthwhile, but there are times of the year where they are much easier to shoot, and that’s what I’ve attempted to identify here. These dates tend to occur in mid-spring, so keep an eye out for them.

• I’ve marked the Perseid meteor shower period with the 🌠 emoji. The Perseids are popular as they occur in the summer which usually means reliably good weather, but this year they happen to coincide with a new moon, so that will be a great opportunity not to be passed up.

• I’ve also included the dates when the Milky Way is alone in the sky, without the moon. These are excellent dates that provide really clear sky imagery but potentially at the expense of an interesting foreground. However, these are still excellent times to shoot, and ideally suited for beginners too. The foreground issues can also be mitigated as I talk about extensively in my book. Finally, these time periods are also a great time to bring your non-photographer friends and family out to stargaze, since the sky is dark and they can enjoy the stars while you shoot!

• I’ve made a judgment call on how close the moon should be to the Milky Way before I throw in the towel and exclude a set of dates. If the moon is too close to the Milky Way, it will wash it out. It is possible I haven’t gotten all of these right, and your shoot plans might also require something different, so check local circumstances (are you tired of me repeating this yet? :D).

• You can download this entire list as an .ics file to add to the calendar app of your choice. There’s a link at the bottom of the page to do that!

Thanks to everyone that has written to me over the years with comments and suggestions about the trip planner! If you have a question, spot a mistake, or just want to let me know how the trip planner helped plan your session, please let me know!

Here are the dates I picked for this year: