The Corn Moon reaches full on September 26, so the next several nights will be too bright for deep-sky viewing. Skies darken quickly after that. By the New Moon on October 10, the Keweenaw Dark Sky Park will offer its darkest, clearest views of the month.
Plan your visit around the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge’s Lights Out! week, running October 9 through 15, or join the Northern Lights Photography Workshop on October 10 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm, where you will learn the camera settings and the best locations on the property for capturing the night sky.
Looking further ahead, mark your calendar for the Orionid meteor shower, which peaks in the hours before dawn on October 23. The Orionids are debris from Halley’s Comet and are one of the more reliable annual showers, though a nearly full moon will wash out the fainter meteors this year — the best window will be in the hour or two before dawn, after the moon has set.
Aurora watch: a moderate solar storm lit up skies across the northern United States in late September, with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan named among the possible viewing areas. Activity is expected to quiet down through early October, with smaller upticks possible around October 4–6 and October 11–14 — the second of which falls right in this New Moon stretch. Before you head out, check NOAA’s real-time aurora forecast at spaceweather.gov.