The indexnight skiesCentral Florida
Night sky photography in Central Florida
Thirteen of the thirty-seven subjects here are shot after dark, which is more than any other kind — the peninsula is flat, the horizons are long, and the Milky Way core sits low in the south from spring to late summer. Every one of them turns on the same two facts: whether the moon is below the horizon, and whether the sky is properly dark rather than merely dim. Both are computed here for specific nights rather than left to a phase calendar.
All 25
25 subjects across the year, soonest first · open one to see what fires it
On now
Conditions are met, or the season is open. Go this week.
14
Openverse contributor · CC0 1.0Milky Way core — 21:10 to 22:30Kissimmee Prairie Preserve — the darkest sky in the peninsula · 101 min · drone no — state parkSep 13todayFires when new-moon dark meets 0% forecast cloud and core above 20 degrees for 1.3 hours
Next Sun, Sep 13 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 14–24mm at f/1.8 or faster, 15-20s at wide aperture, ISO 3200-6400, focus stacked foreground optional, on a tripod
1.3 hours of true astronomical dark with the core above 20° and the moon below the horizon, peaking at 29°. The moon is 5% and down — this is as dark as this longitude gets. Forecast cloud 0%. The core never climbs past 29° at this latitude, so it sits low in the south — you need a southern horizon with no town behind it.
Bubba73 · CC BY-SA 4.0Falcon 9 Block 5 | O3b mPower 11-13Titusville causeways / Space Coast · 100 min · drone no — launch TFRSep 13todayFires when launch falls this week but 40% slip risk means recheck at T-24h, refuge gate closes 7:32pm covering the evening window
Next Sun, Sep 13 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–200mm at f/4 or faster, 1/1000s for ascent, wide for plume against sky, on a tripod
Status In Flight from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA. 40% of announced dates slip; commit at the T-24h recheck, not the calendar. ACCESS: Merritt Island NWR — Black Point and Bio Lab drives: 7:08am to 7:32pm.
a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 8.7h of true dark, 21:00 to 05:40Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 13todayFires when warm water and near-new moon give longest true-dark window of the run but glow itself is unconfirmed
Next Sun, Sep 13 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 8.7 hours of astronomical night — it is 6% lit, and barely there anyway. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer) · CC BY 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 8.2h of true dark, 21:30 to 05:40Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 14todayFires when 8.2h dark window still strong but moon fraction climbing
Next Mon, Sep 14 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 8.2 hours of astronomical night — it is 12% lit, and barely there anyway. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 7.5h of true dark, 22:10 to 05:40Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 15today
Fires when dark window shrinking to 7.5h as moon brightens toward first quarter
Next Tue, Sep 15 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 7.5 hours of astronomical night — it is 20% lit, and barely there anyway. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 6.8h of true dark, 22:50 to 05:40Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 16today
Fires when dark window down to 6.8h as rising moon eats into the night
Next Wed, Sep 16 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 6.8 hours of astronomical night — it is 30% lit, which sounds unhelpful until you notice it has already set: what ends this show is a moon in the sky, not a moon in the sky chart. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 6.2h of true dark, 23:40 to 05:50Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 17today
Fires when dark window shrinks to 6.2h with moon nearly half lit before it sets
Next Thu, Sep 17 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 6.2 hours of astronomical night — it is 40% lit, which sounds unhelpful until you notice it has already set: what ends this show is a moon in the sky, not a moon in the sky chart. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 5.3h of true dark, 00:30 to 05:50Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 19today
Fires when dark window down to 5.3h as moon crosses half-lit, diminishing returns
Next Sat, Sep 19 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 5.3 hours of astronomical night — it is 51% lit, which sounds unhelpful until you notice it has already set: what ends this show is a moon in the sky, not a moon in the sky chart. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 4.5h of true dark, 01:20 to 05:50Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 20today
Fires when dark window shrinks to 4.5h with moon past 60% lit, marginal
Next Sun, Sep 20 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 4.5 hours of astronomical night — it is 61% lit, which sounds unhelpful until you notice it has already set: what ends this show is a moon in the sky, not a moon in the sky chart. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Bioluminescent lagoon — 3.5h of true dark, 02:20 to 05:50Haulover Canal / Mosquito Lagoon, Merritt Island NWR · 108 min · drone no — national wildlife refuge, and it is pitch darkSep 21today
Fires when dark window down to 3.5h with moon over 70% lit, low payoff
Next Mon, Sep 21 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–50mm at f/1.8 or faster, long exposure, ISO 6400+, widest aperture available, on a tripod
Lagoon water is 85.6°F at Trident Pier, Port Canaveral, which is in the range Pyrodinium bahamense wants (80°F and up). The moon is below the horizon for 3.5 hours of astronomical night — it is 72% lit, which sounds unhelpful until you notice it has already set: what ends this show is a moon in the sky, not a moon in the sky chart. Paddle wash and fish tracks light blue-green; it reads better to the eye than to a sensor, so bring the fastest glass you own and accept the noise. What this cannot tell you is whether it is actually glowing: temperature and darkness are necessary, not sufficient, and no public feed reports bloom density. Call an outfitter before you drive.
- a stand-in, not thisMartin Mark · CC BY-SA 4.0Vulcan VC6L | Amazon Leo (LV-01)Titusville causeways / Space Coast · 100 min · drone no — launch TFRSep 29today
Fires when new rocket type but no-earlier-than date only, nothing to act on yet
Next Tue, Sep 29 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–200mm at f/4 or faster, tbd pending confirmed launch time, on a tripod
Status TBD from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA. Launch Library has this no-earlier-than September 2026 and no closer: the Wed, Sep 30 you may see quoted elsewhere is the last day of that month standing in for the whole of it, not a date anybody has announced. Worth knowing it is coming; nothing to leave the house for until the range narrows to a day, which for a Cape flight is usually two to three weeks out. ACCESS: Merritt Island NWR — Black Point and Bio Lab drives: 7:08am to 7:32pm.
Openverse contributor · CC0 1.0Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crew-13Titusville causeways / Space Coast · 100 min · drone no — launch TFRSep 29todayFires when no-earlier-than date only, nothing to shoot until range narrows to a day
Next Tue, Sep 29 — the published start time. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Wants 24–200mm at f/4 or faster, tbd pending confirmed launch time, on a tripod
Status TBD from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA. Launch Library has this no-earlier-than September 2026 and no closer: the Wed, Sep 30 you may see quoted elsewhere is the last day of that month standing in for the whole of it, not a date anybody has announced. Worth knowing it is coming; nothing to leave the house for until the range narrows to a day, which for a Cape flight is usually two to three weeks out. ACCESS: Merritt Island NWR — Black Point and Bio Lab drives: 7:08am to 7:32pm.
Jay Horn · CC BYBlazing star & fall wildflowers, Lake Wales Ridge scrubLake Wales Ridge preserves · 40 min · drone variesIn seasonnowFires when in season; endemic scrub blooms found nowhere else
Scrub endemics that grow nowhere else on earth, and the bloom is a few weeks on ridge sand rather than a season.
NASA · CC0 1.0Cape Canaveral launches (night launches favored)Titusville causeways / Rotary Riverfront Park · 105 min · drone noIn seasonnowFires when LL2 status Go; commit only at the T-24h recheck (40% of night dates slip)
Night ascents = long-exposure streaks; dawn/dusk = jellyfish plumes. Celestial print demand rides every launch.
In the next few weeks
Close enough to protect a date and book the time off.
5
Jim Vajda · CC BY 2.0Orionid meteor showerdark-sky sites · 90 min · drone permitOct 21in 3 weeksFires when peak Oct 21-22
Next Wed, Oct 21 — the shower's peak night. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Halley's dust, on a broad flat maximum — one clouded night does not cost you the shower.
Sonny SideUp · CC BY 2.0Supermoon rises over the Tampa skylineBallast Point / Riverwalk sightlines · 45 min · drone check TPA gridOct 25in 3 weeksFires when full moon ≥ 360,000 km perigee from the celestial feed; azimuth aligned with a skyline sightline
Next Sun, Oct 25 — the full moon. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
The size is the least of it. The picture is the moon against something built, which needs a sightline scouted in advance and a long lens from a long way back.
Jérémy Capelle · CC0Comb-jelly bioluminescenceIndian River Lagoon · 95 min · drone noNovseason opensFires when new moon ±5 days
A colder, sparser glow than the dinoflagellate bloom — points rather than a sheet, and it wants a far longer exposure for far less light.
Nonbinary-Naturalist · CC0Manatee aggregations — Blue Spring runBlue Spring State Park, Orange City · 75 min · drone noNovseason opensFires when 2+ consecutive nights ≤ 48F; verify count via webcam before driving
Daily posted counts + live webcams = the only pre-drive-verifiable wildlife subject in the region. Park hits capacity by 9-10a after cold snaps.
Nonbinary-Naturalist · CC0Manatee aggregations — Three Sisters SpringsCrystal River NWR · 75 min · drone noNovseason opensFires when 2+ consecutive nights ≤ 48F (NWS forecast)
Season is Nov 15 - Mar 31. Boardwalk needs no permit; refuge prohibits drones. Peak is the 1-3 days during/after a hard cold snap.
Later this season
Worth knowing now so the gear and the drive are ready.
2
ESO/G. Lombardi · CC BY 4.0Geminid meteor showerKissimmee Prairie / Colt Creek SP · 90 min · drone permitDec 14in 2 monthsFires when peak Dec 13-14; moon-phase check
Next Mon, Dec 14 — the shower's peak night. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
Best Florida shower — high radiant, warm nights.
eberhard grossgasteiger · CC0 1.0Quadrantid meteor showerdark-sky sites · 90 min · drone permitJan 3, 2027in 3 monthsFires when peak Jan 3-4; short sharp maximum
Next Sun, Jan 3, 2027 — the shower's peak night. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
A maximum measured in hours rather than nights, so a few hours of cloud costs the entire year.
Further out
Not yet. Here so the year can be planned around it.
4- Openverse contributor · CC0 1.0Milky Way core seasonKissimmee Prairie Preserve (dark-sky park) · 90 min · drone permitMarseason opens
Fires when new moon ±4 days AND transparency forecast clear
Astro pads book out at new moon — booking gate two weeks ahead.
Georgfotoart · CC BY-SA 4.0Eta Aquariid meteor showerdark-sky sites · 90 min · drone permitMay 6, 2027in 7 monthsFires when peak May 5-6, pre-dawn radiant
Next Thu, May 6, 2027 — the shower's peak night. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
A pre-dawn radiant, so this is the shower that costs a night's sleep rather than an evening.
Bruce Anderson (University of Stellenbosch). · CC BY 2.0Bioluminescence, Indian River LagoonHaulover Canal, Merritt Island NWR · 95 min · drone noJunseason opensFires when new moon ±5 days AND water temp > 82F
Dinoflagellate glow. Shore tripod works on the north bank; kayak charters sell out at new moon. The comb-jelly season that follows in November is dimmer but empty of tourists.
National Park Service · CC0 1.0Perseid meteor showerColt Creek State Park · 35 min · drone permitAug 12, 2027in 10 monthsFires when peak Aug 11-13; moon-phase check
Next Thu, Aug 12, 2027 — the shower's peak night. Moon dates come from a mean lunar month and can be a day out; check before you commit a four-hour drive to one.
The most reliable shower of the year and the one most often spoiled by an August moon — a peak that lands near full is worth nothing.
Which of these can you actually shoot?
Every subject states the glass it needs. Say what is in your bag and the index says plainly which of these your longest lens reaches — no account, and your kit stays in the address bar.