After sundown: butter yellow on navyNavy sky, purple high glow, rose low sky, orange horizon, black hills, butter yellow first star.
Blue dusk: pale blue on navyNavy sky, blue low sky, dusty blue horizon, midnight blue hills, pale blue stars.
Ember horizon: orange on navyNavy sky, deep purple low sky, red horizon, black ridge, orange last glow.
Evening star: white on blueBlue sky, periwinkle low sky, peach horizon, navy trees, white evening star.
First stars: cream on navyNavy sky, denim blue low sky, dusty blue horizon, charcoal barn, cream stars.
Lake at nightfall: lavender on deep indigoDeep indigo sky, violet low sky, pink horizon, black far shore, lavender water.
Midnight field: white on blackBlack sky, midnight blue low sky, dark teal horizon, charcoal field, white stars.
Moonless midnight: silver on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, navy low sky, deep indigo horizon, black trees, silver stars.
Pink band: white on blueBlue sky, dusty pink band, denim blue shadow below, plum land, white moon.
Winter nightfall: pale blue on deep indigoDeep indigo sky, denim blue low sky, dusty pink horizon, midnight blue pines, pale blue snow.
Show all 42 palettes (32 more)
Moonlight 12
Amber moonrise: amber on deep indigoDeep indigo sky, plum low sky, rust horizon, dark brown hills, amber moon.
Eclipsed moon: rust on blackBlack sky, midnight blue low sky, charcoal hills, maroon rim, rust moon.
Gilded night: cream on navyNavy sky, deep purple cloud, gold halo, butter yellow stars, cream crescent.
High full moon: white on navyNavy sky, blue glow, silver cloud edge, midnight blue hills, white moon.
Moon halo: pale blue on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, dusty blue halo, gray cloud, black trees, pale blue moon.
Moon in the branches: cream on navyNavy sky, blue glow, forest green pines, black trunks, cream moon.
Moon on water: white on navyNavy sky, dark teal sea, teal swell, silver path of light, white moon.
Moonlit clouds: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, charcoal cloud bellies, gray clouds, silver cloud edges, white moon.
Moonlit lane: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, blue wall, denim blue shadows, periwinkle lane, white moon.
Moonset: butter yellow on deep purpleDeep purple sky, plum low sky, dusty pink horizon, midnight blue sea, butter yellow moon.
Snow in moonlight: white on navyNavy sky, denim blue shadows, periwinkle drifts, pale blue snow, white moon.
Thin crescent: cream on deep indigoDeep indigo sky, indigo low sky, lavender haze, midnight blue hills, cream crescent.
Northern lights 10
Aurora on snow: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, green band, dark teal treeline, aqua glow on the snow, white stars.
Cabin window: amber on navyNavy sky, green band, forest green pines, charcoal cabin, amber window.
Crown of rays: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, purple outer rays, turquoise inner rays, black land, white center.
Far glow: mint on blackBlack sky, midnight blue low sky, teal horizon glow, charcoal hills, mint stars.
Green arc: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, emerald green arc, neon green edge, black treeline, white stars.
Lake mirror: lime on blackBlack sky, emerald green band, teal reflection, charcoal shore, lime core.
Pink fringe: white on deep indigoDeep indigo sky, turquoise curtain, pink fringe, midnight blue mountains, white stars.
Purple hem: aqua on navyNavy sky, green curtain, violet lower edge, black spruce, aqua fold.
Red-topped curtain: mint on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, red curtain top, green curtain, black hills, mint fold.
Violet rays: lavender on deep purpleDeep purple sky, violet rays, magenta fringe, black ridge, lavender ray tips.
City glow 10
Edge of town: cream on navyNavy sky, purple haze, coral glow, black trees, cream porch light.
Foggy street: cream on charcoalCharcoal sky, gray fog, tan lamp halo, dark brown wall, cream lamp.
Low cloud: peach on charcoalCharcoal sky, dusty pink lit cloud, gray dark cloud, black roofs, peach windows.
Orange dome: amber on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, plum high glow, rust glow, black skyline, amber windows.
River bridge: gold on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, brown glow, black bridge, navy river, gold lamps.
Sign glow: white on deep indigoDeep indigo sky, magenta sign glow, charcoal rooftops, turquoise sign, white windows.
Skyline from a hill: yellow on deep purpleDeep purple sky, rose glow, plum haze, black skyline, yellow windows.
Street lamps: apricot on charcoalCharcoal sky, brown haze, orange lamp glow, black street, apricot lamps.
Tower lights: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, dusty blue haze, charcoal fields, red tower lights, white runway lights.
White lamps: white on midnight blueMidnight blue sky, denim blue haze, pale blue glow, charcoal towers, white windows.
How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-08: palettes of five or six colors for the night sky as seen from the ground, in four kinds (dusk to dark, moonlight, northern lights, city glow). Every palette, name, color word, hex code and part is our own choice; none is sampled from a photograph. How a strip is ordered: the sky from the top down, then the land, then the lightest thing in the picture (a moon, a star, a lit window, snow). Our own tests, not a standard: the first color is dark; the last color is the lightest of the strip (WCAG relative luminance, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/contrast-minimum.html) and contrasts with the first by 3 to 1 or more; on a dusk strip the sky lower down is lighter than the top; no two colors of a palette are closer than 8 in CIE Lab; no two palettes share four codes. Facts in the page copy, checked on 2026-10-08 against English Wikipedia. Moonlight, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight: to human eyes moonlight looks bluish or silvery (an illusion, due to the Purkinje effect), and a totally eclipsed Moon takes on a reddish color. Aurora, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora: green auroras are the most common; red is emitted at the highest altitudes; blue and purple show mostly along the curtains' lower edges; red and green can mix to pink or yellow. Belt of Venus, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_of_Venus: a pinkish glow seen during twilight, shortly before dawn or after dusk, later with Earth's dark shadow band between it and the horizon. Skyglow, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyglow: skyglow from artificial light usually shows as a dome of glow above a town or city. Which colors stand for each of these is our own reading. Color names are plain English words with no paint maker, pencil brand or color-matching system, and one word is one code everywhere on this list. Checked on 2026-10-08: every code is #RRGGBB, each color word fits the hue and lightness of its code, no palette, name or line repeats, and no palette is on another palette list of this site or of its sister sites. The hex codes are for a screen; with paint or pencils, take the nearest color. Licence: own work
How it works
A night sky color palette here is the sky as seen from the ground. Each strip names the sky first, then the land under it, then the lightest thing in the picture: a moon, a star or a lit window.
Read the full guide
Four kinds of night
Dusk to dark runs from the pink band that shows after sunset to a moonless midnight. Northern lights are mostly green, the most common aurora color, with red at the top of a curtain and purple at its lower edge. City glow sets an orange, pink or pale blue haze over a dark skyline.
Moon color palette
Choose Moonlight. Moonlight looks bluish or silvery to the eye, so many of these strips are blues and grays under a white moon. Amber moonrise and Eclipsed moon go warm instead: a totally eclipsed moon turns reddish.
Questions and answers
What colors are in a night sky color scheme?
On this list, mostly darks: black and midnight blue stand in more strips than any other color, with navy, charcoal and deep indigo behind them. Each strip ends on one light, most often white or cream.
What is a celestial color palette?
We read it as a gold moon and stars on deep blue. Gilded night, in the Moonlight group, is built that way: a navy sky, deep purple cloud, a gold halo, butter yellow stars and a cream crescent.
Which one is a midnight sky color palette?
Moonless midnight and Midnight field, both under Dusk to dark. They are nearly all dark: midnight blue, navy and black, with silver or white kept for the stars.