When can you see the Milky Way in Luxembourg?

Nowhere in Luxembourg does the bright core of the Milky Way climb clear of the horizon haze while the sky is fully dark. It peaks at about 12° in Esch-sur-Alzette, Esch-sur-Alzette, and that happens around midsummer, when the sun never gets 18° below the horizon. What you can see is the rest of the band, high overhead on dark nights. The longest moonless nights come from September to April.

Where in Luxembourg is the Milky Way band brightest?

The band needs a dark sky more than anything. Each canton with its longest moonless nights, how many of its places are Bortle 1 to 3, and its darkest place.

The darkest places in Luxembourg to see the Milky Way

1. Upper Sûre Natural Park Wiltz · Bortle 421.18
2. Our Nature Park Clervaux · Bortle 421.14
3. Putscheid Clervaux · Bortle 421.14
4. Mëllerdall Nature Park Echternach · Bortle 420.82
5. Esch-sur-Alzette Esch-sur-Alzette · Bortle 619.37
6. Luxembourg Luxembourg · Bortle 718.79

Sky brightness overhead in mag/arcsec²: higher is darker, 21.95 is a natural sky.

Which months have the longest dark nights in Luxembourg?

Hours per night with the sun more than 18° below the horizon and the moon down, for the median place in 2027. From May to July most of Luxembourg gets no full darkness at all.

How the Milky Way dates for Luxembourg are calculated

The positions of the sun, the moon and the center of the Milky Way are calculated for every night of 2027 at each place. A night counts when the core stands more than 10° above the horizon for at least an hour while the sun is more than 18° below the horizon and the moon has set. These are calculated positions; whether a night is clear is only known closer to the date. How it works