Menu

Night sky tonight in North Carolina

Tonight's score out of 10 and the best hours for each North Carolina 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 North Carolina

CityTonightBest timeHighlightsNorthern lights need
Charlotte……Kp 8.1
Raleigh……Kp 8
Greensboro……Kp 8
Winston-Salem……Kp 8
Fayetteville……Kp 8.2
Wilmington……Kp 8.3
Greenville……Kp 8.1
Asheville……Kp 8.1
Gastonia……Kp 8.1
Jacksonville……Kp 8.2
Chapel Hill……Kp 8
Kannapolis……Kp 8.1
Burlington……Kp 8
Rocky Mount……Kp 8

Scores before clouds; each city page adds the National Weather Service cloud forecast. Northern lights: see tonight's aurora outlook for North Carolina.

Darkness across North Carolina

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.

CitySunset Dec 15Full darkness Dec 15Sunset Jun 15Full darkness Jun 15Nearest dark-sky place
Charlotte5:13 PM11.2 h8:39 PM5.9 hMayland Earth to Sky Park & Bare Dark Sky Observatory, 91 mi NW
Raleigh5:02 PM11.2 h8:32 PM5.8 hStaunton River State Park, 60 mi N
Greensboro5:06 PM11.2 h8:38 PM5.7 hStaunton River State Park, 76 mi NE
Winston-Salem5:08 PM11.2 h8:40 PM5.7 hStaunton River State Park, 97 mi NE
Fayetteville5:05 PM11.2 h8:32 PM5.9 hStaunton River State Park, 113 mi N
Wilmington5:03 PM11.1 h8:25 PM6.1 hCape Lookout National Seashore, 83 mi E
Greenville4:58 PM11.2 h8:27 PM5.8 hCape Lookout National Seashore, 83 mi SE
Asheville5:18 PM11.2 h8:47 PM5.8 hPisgah Astronomical Research Institute, 31 mi SW
Gastonia5:14 PM11.2 h8:41 PM5.9 hMayland Earth to Sky Park & Bare Dark Sky Observatory, 73 mi NW
Jacksonville5:00 PM11.2 h8:24 PM6 hCape Lookout National Seashore, 50 mi E
Chapel Hill5:03 PM11.2 h8:34 PM5.8 hStaunton River State Park, 57 mi N
Kannapolis5:11 PM11.2 h8:39 PM5.9 hMayland Earth to Sky Park & Bare Dark Sky Observatory, 92 mi W
Burlington5:05 PM11.2 h8:36 PM5.7 hStaunton River State Park, 62 mi NE
Rocky Mount4:58 PM11.2 h8:29 PM5.8 hStaunton River State Park, 70 mi NW

Moon-free nights in North Carolina, month by month

The runs of nights when the Moon is down for most of full darkness, worked out for Charlotte; across the state the dates shift by a night at most.

  • November 2026: Nov 3–10, Nov 12–15
  • December 2026: Dec 2–14, Dec 31
  • January 2027: Jan 1–13, Jan 29–31
  • February 2027: Feb 1–11, Feb 27–28
  • March 2027: Mar 1–12, Mar 28–31
  • April 2027: Apr 1–10, Apr 27–30
  • May 2027: May 1–9, May 28–31
  • June 2027: Jun 1–8, Jun 29–30
  • July 2027: Jul 1–10, Jul 29–31
  • August 2027: Aug 1–9, Aug 27–31
  • September 2027: Sep 1–7, Sep 25–30
  • October 2027: Oct 1–6, Oct 24–31
  • November 2027: Nov 1–4, Nov 22–30
  • December 2027: Dec 1–3, Dec 21–31

Dark-sky places in North Carolina

Descriptions and moon-free weekends

Eclipses visible in North Carolina

All states