5.5 usable nights
4–7 in the middle half of years · 1.9 typically near a dark moon.
349 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
20-year trip-planning baseline
Best time to stargaze at Atlantic City
September: 9.5 usable nights on average. Use this seasonal climate baseline to choose a month, then use the live forecast to choose a night.
Site darkness · modelled, not measured
Bright skyBortle classes describe observed sky conditions; this brightness model does not establish a measured Bortle class.19.4–20.1 mag/arcsec²
The short answer
September has been strongest.
It averages 9.5 usable nights, versus 4.5 in December. A typical September lands between 7 and 11 usable nights.
Record2005–2024 · 20 complete years
Usable nightAt least 3 astronomical-dark hours and NASA POWER nighttime cloud ≤30%
Dark-moon nightUsable night with ≤25% illumination at local solar midnight
ResolutionCERES SYN1deg 1° cloud grid; regional climate, not a campsite guarantee
Seasonal fingerprint
Usable nights by month
Month by month
4.8 usable nights
4–6 in the middle half of years · 1.2 typically near a dark moon.
290 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
7.3 usable nights
5–9 in the middle half of years · 2.5 typically near a dark moon.
278 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
6.3 usable nights
4–9 in the middle half of years · 2.0 typically near a dark moon.
231 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
5.8 usable nights
4–7 in the middle half of years · 1.7 typically near a dark moon.
186 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
6.3 usable nights
4–8 in the middle half of years · 1.7 typically near a dark moon.
165 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
6.0 usable nights
3–8 in the middle half of years · 1.4 typically near a dark moon.
183 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
8.8 usable nights
6–12 in the middle half of years · 2.9 typically near a dark moon.
217 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
9.5 usable nights
7–11 in the middle half of years · 3.4 typically near a dark moon.
250 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
8.7 usable nights
7–10 in the middle half of years · 2.8 typically near a dark moon.
307 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
6.0 usable nights
4–8 in the middle half of years · 1.7 typically near a dark moon.
329 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
4.5 usable nights
3–6 in the middle half of years · 1.6 typically near a dark moon.
367 astronomical-dark hours in an average month
Use the baseline honestly
Climate chooses the month. Forecasts choose the night.
The cloud product is a roughly 1° regional grid. It can reveal seasonality, but it cannot know a mountain ridge, valley fog pocket, locked gate, smoke event or the exact sky you will get.
Source: NASA POWER daily data, parameter CLOUD_AMT_NIGHT from the CERES SYN1deg cloud product. GoodSeeing calculates astronomical darkness and lunar illumination independently for each place.