Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park

How dark the sky is at Buckhorn Lake: Bortle Class 3, rural sky

The zenith sky here reads 21.73 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.3 times the brightness of a pristine natural sky (22.0), the extra coming from artificial light scattered in the air.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added. On the night, haze, smoke, humidity and the Moon set the real limit; see every Bortle Class 3 place.

What's up from Buckhorn Lake by season

At latitude 37.3°N, the north celestial pole stands 37° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -53° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 24° above the southern horizon. These are the constellations well placed, 35° or more above the horizon, at about 10 pm in the middle of each season, brightest first.

Showpieces from Buckhorn Lake through the year

At about 10 pm on the 15th of each month; a dash means the sight is below 25° then.

Never set from Buckhorn Lake

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Major
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Buckhorn Lake

• Centaurus
• Grus
• Norma
• Phoenix
• Telescopium
• Vela

Never rise from Buckhorn Lake

• Apus
• Ara
• Carina
• Chamaeleon
• Circinus
• Crux
• Dorado
• Horologium
• Hydrus
• Indus
• Mensa
• Musca
• Octans
• Pavo
• Pictor
• Reticulum
• Triangulum Australe
• Tucana
• Volans

Where to set up at Buckhorn Lake

The coordinates on this page point to Park center, at 270 m (890 ft): 37.306°N, 83.439°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Arrive before dark, park facing away from other observers, and use red light only.

Buckhorn Lake among the dark sky places of Kentucky

Each dot is a dark sky place, colored by Bortle class; select one for its page. See Kentucky dark sky places for the full list, darkest first.

Camping and lodging at Buckhorn Lake

The nearest town with motels or inns is Hazard, KY. Check the official site for campgrounds and overnight rules; many parks close their gates at night, so ask about after-dark access.

Dark sky places nearest Buckhorn Lake

Star parties near Buckhorn Lake

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Kentucky puts the dark sky places, observatories, clubs, star parties, planetariums and science centers of the state on one map, with the best night out worked out.

Observatories and astronomy clubs near Buckhorn Lake

Observatories within 100 km

• Morehead State 21 m Space Tracking AntennaMorehead, Kentucky, 99 km (62 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Bays Mountain Astronomy ClubKingsport, Tennessee, 116 km (72 mi). Meets 1st Friday monthly, 7 pm
• Bluegrass Amateur Astronomy ClubLexington, Kentucky, 127 km (79 mi)
• Ohio Valley Astronomical SocietyWest Virginia, 151 km (94 mi)
• Knoxville Observers Astronomy ClubKnoxville, Tennessee, 151 km (94 mi)
• ORIONOak Ridge, Tennessee, 161 km (100 mi). Meets Monthly Wednesday, 7 pm

See observatories and astronomy clubs in Kentucky. Local clubs often hold their star parties at dark sky places like this one.

Buckhorn Lake record

From the site's dark sky places dataset (parks_q426). The sky by season is computed from the coordinates.