Leonid Meteor Shower 2026 Peaks Nov. 16-17: Moonset and Moon-Free Hours in 12 U.S. Cities

The Leonid meteor shower peaks on the night of Monday, Nov. 16 to Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS), the International Meteor Organization (IMO) and NASA. None of the three lists a peak hour. This story adds what the monthly guides leave out: when the Moon sets on both Leonid nights, Nov. 16-17 and Nov. 17-18, in 12 U.S. cities, from the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), and how many moon-free hours that leaves before the morning sky begins to brighten.

Leonid peak night and active dates in 2026

All three organizations give the same active period, Nov. 6 to Nov. 30, and the same peak night.

Source	Peak night	Active
AMS, 2026/2027 Meteor Shower Calendar	Nov. 16-17	Nov. 6-30
IMO, 2026/2027 Meteor Shower Calendar	Nov. 16-17	Nov. 6-30
NASA Science, Leonids	Nov. 16-17	Nov. 6-30

The sources give a night, not a time, so the table above is all they say about timing. NASA adds that the Leonids are best viewed starting at about midnight local time.

How many Leonids can you see per hour in 2026?

NASA says fewer than 3 meteors per hour under dark skies. The parent of the Leonids is Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, according to NASA. With a rate that low, the hours without moonlight matter more than the exact minute, which is why the tables below count them.

How bright is the Moon on Leonid peak night?

The AMS describes the Moon as a waxing crescent, 39% illuminated, on the peak night. The USNO publishes its own daily illumination values for New York and Washington, D.C.: 43% on Mon., Nov. 16, 52% on Tue., Nov. 17 and 62% on Wed., Nov. 18. The USNO’s Nov. 16 value is a different number from the AMS’s. The USNO puts First Quarter Moon at 6:48 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Tue., Nov. 17, which is 11:48 Universal Time (UT).

For viewing, the useful number is when the Moon is below the horizon. The USNO lists moonrise in the afternoon on both nights (12:28 p.m. on Nov. 16 and 12:52 p.m. on Nov. 17 in New York), so the moon-free part of the night starts at moonset.

Moon-free hours on the night of Mon., Nov. 16 to Tue., Nov. 17

We pulled each city’s times from the USNO’s one-day rise and set data service for Nov. 16, 17 and 18, 2026, using the city’s center coordinates and local standard time: Eastern Standard Time (EST), Central Standard Time (CST), Mountain Standard Time (MST), Pacific Standard Time (PST), Alaska Standard Time (AKST) and Hawaii Standard Time (HST). Phoenix is on MST. The moonset and Begin Civil Twilight times are USNO values for each city’s center. The moon-free window, moonset to Begin Civil Twilight, is computed by Fresh Calendars.

City	Time zone	Moonset, Mon., Nov. 16	Begin Civil Twilight, Tue., Nov. 17	Moon-free window
New York	EST	10:53 p.m.	6:16 a.m.	7 h 23 min
Boston	EST	10:37 p.m.	6:07 a.m.	7 h 30 min
Atlanta	EST	11:48 p.m.	6:45 a.m.	6 h 57 min
Miami	EST	11:42 p.m.	6:16 a.m.	6 h 34 min
Chicago	CST	10:47 p.m.	6:13 a.m.	7 h 26 min
Dallas	CST	11:41 p.m.	6:33 a.m.	6 h 52 min
Denver	MST	11:04 p.m.	6:18 a.m.	7 h 14 min
Phoenix	MST	11:44 p.m.	6:35 a.m.	6 h 51 min
Los Angeles	PST	11:09 p.m.	6:01 a.m.	6 h 52 min
Seattle	PST	11:00 p.m.	6:44 a.m.	7 h 44 min
Anchorage	AKST	11:09 p.m.	8:19 a.m.	9 h 10 min
Honolulu	HST	12:10 a.m. (Nov. 17)	6:20 a.m.	6 h 10 min

On the peak night the Moon sets before midnight in 11 of the 12 cities. Boston has the earliest moonset, 10:37 p.m., and Honolulu the latest, 12:10 a.m. on Nov. 17. Outside Anchorage, where Begin Civil Twilight comes at 8:19 a.m., the windows run from 6 h 10 min in Honolulu to 7 h 44 min in Seattle.

Moon-free hours on the night of Tue., Nov. 17 to Wed., Nov. 18

The Moon sets later and the window gets shorter. The USNO lists a moonset after midnight under the next date, so the Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Seattle, Anchorage and Honolulu times below are Wed., Nov. 18 entries. Only New York, Boston and Chicago have a moonset before midnight on Nov. 17.

City	Time zone	Moonset	Begin Civil Twilight, Wed., Nov. 18	Moon-free window
New York	EST	11:56 p.m. (Nov. 17)	6:17 a.m.	6 h 21 min
Boston	EST	11:42 p.m. (Nov. 17)	6:08 a.m.	6 h 26 min
Atlanta	EST	12:47 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:46 a.m.	5 h 59 min
Miami	EST	12:37 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:16 a.m.	5 h 39 min
Chicago	CST	11:51 p.m. (Nov. 17)	6:14 a.m.	6 h 23 min
Dallas	CST	12:39 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:34 a.m.	5 h 55 min
Denver	MST	12:06 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:19 a.m.	6 h 13 min
Phoenix	MST	12:42 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:36 a.m.	5 h 54 min
Los Angeles	PST	12:07 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:02 a.m.	5 h 55 min
Seattle	PST	12:09 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:45 a.m.	6 h 36 min
Anchorage	AKST	12:39 a.m. (Nov. 18)	8:21 a.m.	7 h 42 min
Honolulu	HST	1:02 a.m. (Nov. 18)	6:21 a.m.	5 h 19 min

In Washington, D.C., the USNO lists the Moon setting at 12:11 a.m. on Nov. 18. Compared with the first night, the second night’s window is 51 minutes shorter in Honolulu and 1 h 28 min shorter in Anchorage, and 55 to 68 minutes shorter in the other ten cities. The windows end at Begin Civil Twilight, the USNO’s first morning twilight entry, so they are a ceiling; the data we used does not say how many Leonids fall inside them. Times for other places differ, and the USNO’s rise and set page takes any U.S. location.

When is the Leonid peak hour in 2026?

There is no official hour yet. The AMS, the IMO and NASA list the peak as the night of Nov. 16-17. Because the sources give no time, the whole night is the plan, and the table above shows when the Moon stops being a factor in your city. For what else is in the sky that month, see our November 2026 meteor showers guide, the Orionid story from October and the November 2026 night sky calendar. Put the dates on the November 2026 printable calendar or the printable yearly calendar.

Take the Leonid moon-free window with you

The printable lists both nights’ moonset, Begin Civil Twilight and moon-free hours for all 12 cities on one page, with a Done box for each city.