Tips, Guides & Planning
Practical advice for astrophotographers — from planning your first Milky Way shoot to advanced techniques.
How to Plan the Full Milky Way Arch Shot
The full Milky Way arch from horizon to horizon is a narrow planning target. Here's the timing, latitude, and location requirements that make it work.
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Milky Way Focus Techniques: How to Get Sharp Stars Every Time
Soft stars are the single most common reason Milky Way shots fail. Here's how to choose the right focus technique for what you're shooting, and how to build it into your planning.
6 min read
How I Plan a 3-Day Astrophotography Trip (A Moab Example)
Moon phase first. Galactic core timing second. Foreground third. Weather last, because weather doesn't negotiate. A full walkthrough of how I'd plan a 3-day astrophotography trip to Moab in May.
7 min read
2026 Lyrids Meteor Shower: How to Plan and Photograph It
The 2026 Lyrids peak April 22 with a favorable crescent moon window. Here's how to plan your location, timing, and camera settings to photograph one of the oldest meteor showers in the sky.
4 min read
Scout Now, Shoot Later: Location Planning Before Milky Way Season
The photographers who get great Milky Way shots plan in two phases. Here's how to use Milky Way Planner to find your windows, and what to do with that information before you ever show up at night.
6 min read
New: Dark Sky Location Maps, Light Pollution Overlay, and Galactic Core Arc
Milky Way Planner now shows light pollution data directly on every map, 400+ dark sky locations with individual planning pages, and a galactic core arc showing exactly where the Milky Way will appear in the sky.
5 min read
Milky Way Season 2026: When to Shoot, Where to Plan, and the One Night You Can't Miss
Plan your 2026 Milky Way photography season with new moon dates, visibility by latitude, meteor shower overlaps, and the one August night you can't miss.
8 min read
Milky Way Planning with Interactive Maps, Calendars, and Light Pollution Data
Milky Way Planner has a new design, interactive maps, and a 2026 visibility calendar for 31 locations worldwide. Light pollution overlays and dark sky parks coming soon.
4 min read
How to Plan Perfect Circular Star Trails: Location, Timing, and Technique
Master circular star trail photography with proper planning, location scouting, and timing strategies for dramatic concentric circles around Polaris.
7 min read
We Fixed the Milky Way Calendar — February Wasn't Lying, Our Math Was
The annual Milky Way calendar was showing zero visibility for winter months. We fixed it; February and January now show accurate galactic core visibility ratings.
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