Thursday 2026-09-17

Wind Cave National Park

Hot Springs, SD

48 Poor conditions. Moon down after 10:20pm, 100% cloud.

Astronomical darkness 8:40pm–5:00am (8.34h) · best window 10:20pm–5:00am

Milky Way core up to 13.3°, high enough to be worth it for 0h38m, highest around 8:40pm.

Why

Cloud	0	100% cloud, mostly high cirrus, thin to the eye but ruinous for photography
Moon	98	first quarter at 45%, sets 10:20pm, dark after that
Darkness	93	8h20m of astronomical darkness, 8:40pm–5:00am
Transparency	0	Dewpoint spread 0.1°C, fog or heavy haze likely
Targets	46	Milky Way core up to 13.3°, high enough to be worth it for 0h38m