Night sky tonight in Montana
Tonight's score out of 10 and the best hours for each Montana city we cover, worked out for its own position and time zone. Open a city for the full forecast: the Moon, planets, meteor showers, northern lights, ISS passes and clouds.
Cities in Montana
| City | Tonight | Best time | Highlights | Northern lights need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billings | … | … | Kp 6.4 | |
| Missoula | … | … | Kp 6.3 | |
| Great Falls | … | … | Kp 6.1 | |
| Bozeman | … | … | Kp 6.5 | |
| Butte | … | … | Kp 6.5 | |
| Helena | … | … | Kp 6.3 | |
| Kalispell | … | … | Kp 6.1 |
Scores before clouds; each city page adds the National Weather Service cloud forecast. Northern lights: see tonight's aurora outlook for Montana.
Darkness across Montana
How early it gets dark in midwinter and how short the summer nights get, city by city, and how far each city is from the nearest certified dark-sky place.
| City | Sunset Dec 15 | Full darkness Dec 15 | Sunset Jun 15 | Full darkness Jun 15 | Nearest dark-sky place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billings | 4:30 PM | 11.7 h | 9:06 PM | 3 h | Jackson Hole Airport, 185 mi SW |
| Missoula | 4:48 PM | 11.8 h | 9:32 PM | 2.4 h | Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, 99 mi NW |
| Great Falls | 4:34 PM | 11.8 h | 9:24 PM | 1.9 h | Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, 161 mi NW |
| Bozeman | 4:41 PM | 11.7 h | 9:15 PM | 3 h | Jackson Hole Airport, 145 mi S |
| Butte | 4:46 PM | 11.7 h | 9:23 PM | 2.9 h | Central Idaho, 173 mi SW |
| Helena | 4:41 PM | 11.7 h | 9:23 PM | 2.5 h | Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, 174 mi NW |
| Kalispell | 4:44 PM | 11.8 h | 9:40 PM | 1.2 h | Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge, 27 mi W |
Moon-free nights in Montana, month by month
The runs of nights when the Moon is down for most of full darkness, worked out for Billings; across the state the dates shift by a night at most.
- November 2026: Nov 3–15
- December 2026: Dec 2–14, Dec 31
- January 2027: Jan 1–13, Jan 29–31
- February 2027: Feb 1–10, Feb 27–28
- March 2027: Mar 1–11, Mar 27–31
- April 2027: Apr 1–9, Apr 26–30
- May 2027: May 1–8, May 27–31
- June 2027: Jun 1–8, Jun 29–30
- July 2027: Jul 1–11, Jul 29–31
- August 2027: Aug 1–10, Aug 27–31
- September 2027: Sep 1–8, Sep 25–30
- October 2027: Oct 1–7, Oct 24–31
- November 2027: Nov 1–4, Nov 21–30
- December 2027: Dec 1–3, Dec 20–31
Dark-sky places in Montana
- Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge: International Dark Sky Sanctuary (2022)
- Medicine Rocks State Park: International Dark Sky Sanctuary (2020)
- Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park: International Dark Sky Park (2017)
Eclipses visible in Montana
- Jan 11, 2028: partial lunar eclipse
- Jan 26, 2028: partial solar eclipse (from 1 of 7 cities)
- Dec 31, 2028: total lunar eclipse (from 5 of 7 cities)
- Jan 14, 2029: partial solar eclipse
- Jun 25, 2029: total lunar eclipse
- Dec 20, 2029: total lunar eclipse
- Mar 30, 2033: partial solar eclipse
- Oct 8, 2033: total lunar eclipse
- Sep 27, 2034: partial lunar eclipse