The Hunter’s Moon reached full phase on October 26, and skies have stayed brighter than usual in the nights since as the moon wanes. That begins to change by the end of this week, as the moon thins toward its next new phase on November 9.
The darkest, clearest stretch of the month opens with that new moon and is expected to run roughly November 5 through November 13, the last extended dark window of the season before the Keweenaw Dark Sky Park closes for its seasonal break. The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge calendar lists two programs inside that window: a Northern Lights Photography Workshop on November 7, taught by photographer Nate Bett, and a Lights Out! observance running November 6 through 12, during which outdoor lighting across the property is reduced to support darker skies. Reservations for the workshop are required and may be made through the front desk at the Lodge.
The same weekend, Houghton hosts the Aurora Summit 2026, November 6 through 8, an independent gathering for aurora photographers and enthusiasts with sessions on photography, solar activity, and space weather. Visitors already in the area for the Lodge’s own dark-sky programming may want to check michiganaurorachasers.com for registration status, since capacity may be limited.
Looking a little further ahead, the Leonid meteor shower peaks overnight on November 17, debris left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. It is not expected to be an especially strong year for the Leonids, with roughly ten to fifteen meteors per hour under dark skies, but viewing conditions are close to ideal: the moon is a thin waxing crescent that sets in the early evening, leaving the rest of the night dark. This peak falls after the Keweenaw Dark Sky Park closes for the season on November 16, so the golf course grounds will not be accessible that night. Stargazers are welcome to watch instead from Brockway Mountain Drive or one of the nearby county and state parks along Lake Superior.
Further out still, mark the calendar for the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks the night of December 13 into December 14 and is consistently one of the best showers of the year. The thin waxing crescent moon sets by around 9 p.m. that night, leaving the rest of the night dark for viewing. The peak falls just before the Keweenaw Dark Sky Park reopens for the season on December 14, making the days that follow a strong candidate for the first dark-sky outing of winter.
The sun remains active this autumn, and additional coronal mass ejections remain possible in the weeks ahead. It is worth checking NOAA’s real-time aurora forecast at spaceweather.gov each evening and watching the northern horizon from a dark, open vantage point.
Cabin guests of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge may borrow a telescope to make the most of any of the nights remaining before then.
Note: The Keweenaw Dark Sky Park closes on November 16 and reopens December 14 for staff vacation.