No. The moon takes up about 1/100,000 of the night sky [0]. In excellent conditions you can see maybe 5,000 stars [1]. So on average the moon is blocking 0.05

No. The moon takes up about 1/100,000 of the night sky [0]. In excellent conditions you can see maybe 5,000 stars [1]. So on average the moon is blocking 0.05 of them. It's surprising how small the moon is in the sky, given its prominence, and how few stars there are even on the blackest night. Now correct for the fact that you won't have perfect viewing conditions everywhere in your survey area, and that you can make out far fewer stars when the moon is full, and a few opportunities a month starts to look reasonable. [0] https://www.quora.com/How-much-of-the-full-night-sky-does-the-full-moon-occupy https://www.quora.com/How-much-of-the-full-night-sky-does-th... [1] https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/how-many-stars-night-sky-09172014/ https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/how-many-stars-n...