Milky Way Tonight, Every Tool. One App.

Joshua Tree NP, CA

VerdictExcellent night

14Tuesday

Excellent Viewing 🌌

MW window9:40 PM – 2:25 AM

Opens in 1h 48m

MoonNew moon · 0% lit

Cloud cover4% · Clear

Bortle classClass 2 · Very dark sky

Great night. Core visible 9:40 PM–2:25 AM under a new moon with 4% cloud cover. This is the night.

Next good night:TonightExcellent · 4h 45m

Los Angeles, CA

VerdictNot a good night

18Wednesday

No View

Moon78% illuminated · too bright

Cloud cover83% · overcast

MW Core risesBelow horizon tonight

Bortle classClass 8 · City sky

78% moon, heavy clouds, and the Core below the horizon. Three blockers in one night. Save the drive.

Next good night:Saturday, Jul 12Excellent

Tonight at a Glance

All the info you need
to know

Milky Way Tonight cross-references galactic core position and timing with moon phase, hourly cloud forecasts, and live light pollution data, so you have a complete picture before you leave the house.

Galactic core rise time, peak altitude, and exact visibility window for your location

Cloud cover measured specifically during the MW window, not just a nightly average

Moon phase and illumination checked against your threshold, every night

Live Bortle class from VIIRS satellite data for your exact coordinates

When not to go
and when to go next

When conditions don't line up, the app tells you exactly what's blocking you and automatically surfaces your next good opportunity, so no night is wasted scrolling through calendars.

Coming soon to iOS and Android

Get notified when Milky Way Tonight launches

You're on the list. We'll let you know when it's live.

No spam, ever.

Visibility Calendar

July 2026

Joshua Tree NP · New moon Jul 14

Excellent

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My MW Nights

1 saved

14

Tuesday · July 2026

Joshua Tree National Park, CA

Excellent

MW Window9:40 PM – 2:25 AM

Cloud cover4% · Clear

NotesKeys View · foreground boulders

Open in Sky View

Visibility Calendar

The whole season,
at a glance

The monthly calendar shows every night color-coded by viewing quality, computed for your exact location. For Joshua Tree in July, the ten-night excellent cluster around the new moon stands out immediately. No math, no spreadsheets.

Jul 9–18 are excellent, the full new moon window at Joshua Tree's Bortle 2 skies

Annual view shows the full season across all 12 months at once

Blue hour dots mark civil twilight windows for landscape blending shots

Tap any night to see the full detail sheet, then save it to My MW Nights with your location notes

Open any saved night directly in Sky View to scout compositions before you go

Dark Sky Finder

Darker skies,
ranked for tonight

Clear skies 40 miles away might be significantly darker than your current spot. The Dark Sky Finder combines live Bortle data with tonight's cloud forecast to surface the best nearby option, not just the nearest dark sky.

Search radius from 30 to 150 miles in any direction

Ranked by darkness and cloud cover together, not separately

Certified Dark Sky Parks highlighted with star badges and a green border

Bortle gradient bar shows exactly where each spot falls on the 1–9 scale

One tap for directions or a full 7-day cloud forecast per location

Dark Sky Finder · 60 mi radius

1

Joshua Tree National Park

Twentynine Palms, CA · Your location

B2 · Very dark 4% cloud ★ Dark Sky Park

DarkBright

2

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

San Diego County, CA · 44 mi SW

B3 · Rural dark 9% cloud

DarkBright

3

Mojave National Preserve

San Bernardino County, CA · 51 mi NE

B3 · Rural dark 18% cloud

DarkBright

Photography Guide

🧮

Exposure Calculator

NPF-rule shutter speed for your exact lens, sensor, and declination. No star trails.

›

🗺

Composition Planner

Galactic core arc overlaid on a live map. Drag your position, scrub time, plan your frame.

›

✨

Sky View

AR star map with galactic core, planets, and constellations. Scrub to any date and hour.

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🎒

Gear Checklist

Everything to pack before the drive, batteries, remotes, dew heaters, red lights.

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📱

Mobile Photography

Shooting the Milky Way on your phone, settings, apps, and post-processing tips.

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Photography Suite

The forecast is
just the beginning

Knowing tonight is clear is one thing. Knowing your exact shutter speed, where to point your camera, and what to pack is another. Milky Way Tonight includes a full photography toolkit built around actually making great images.

NPF-rule exposure calculator: your focal length, aperture, and sensor → exact max shutter with no trailing

Composition Planner overlays the galactic core arc on a live draggable map with time scrubber

Sky View AR star map lets you preview exactly where the core will be at any hour before you drive out

Gear checklist, field guides, and a dedicated mobile photography section

Learn

Guides for every
skill level

The Bortle scale explained. Milky Way season timing. Location guides. How to read the app's data. Written by Jack from direct shooting experience.

Bortle Scale Milky Way Season Location Guides NPF Rule

Browse guides →

Blog

Updates and the
best upcoming nights

App announcements, monthly best-nights forecasts, and shooting notes from the field. The fastest way to know when conditions align at your favorite locations.