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Moon and Twilight |
Updated: 2025-03-18 |
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Plan your next astro night session carefully in advance and use, among other things, the brightness and position of the moon and dusk and dawn effects on the sky brightness. |
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Twilight - Influence of the Sun
For the sky to be really dark enough for astrophotography after sunset or before sunrise, the sun should be at least 15° below the horizon so that the atmospheric scattering effects no longer have any influence on the brightness of the sky.
See the article in this link:: What Is Twilight | Twilight vs. Dusk/Dawn | Golden Hour Time | Astronomical Twilight | Star Walk
Influence of the Moon
The Moon is also a huge nuisance for deep sky astrophotography. About 50% of the time, a certain percentage of the lunar surface radiates so much light back to Earth that it is difficult or impossible to take images of deep sky objects, for example. This also depends on the light scattering of the atmosphere; if the air is dry, the light scattering is low and vice versa. It is therefore very important to consider the current phase of the Moon as well as the distance of the Moon from the object to be observed.
Therefore, it is important to make sure that the moon is either below the horizon or as far away as possible from the object to be observed. The best nights are of course those with a new moon, as the moon has no effect on the brightness of the sky.
Together with the influence of the weather and air properties (temperature, humidity, wind speed), this greatly limits the number of suitable nights for astrophotography.
Planning tool for the impact of the moon: e.g. Moon Phases by Kinetic Stars app on App Store or Play Store
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