Tishomingo State Park

How dark the sky is at Tishomingo: Bortle Class 4, rural and suburban transition

The zenith sky here reads 21.64 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.4 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.

What's up from Tishomingo by season

At latitude 34.6°N, the north celestial pole stands 35° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -55° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 26° 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 Tishomingo 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 Tishomingo

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Tishomingo

• Ara
• Centaurus
• Horologium
• Norma
• Phoenix
• Pictor
• Telescopium
• Vela

Never rise from Tishomingo

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

Where to set up at Tishomingo

The coordinates on this page point to Tishomingo State Park, at 120 m (390 ft): 34.611°N, 88.214°W.

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

Tishomingo among the dark sky places of Mississippi

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

Camping and lodging at Tishomingo

The nearest town with motels or inns is Iuka, MS. 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 Tishomingo

Star parties near Tishomingo

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Mississippi 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 Tishomingo

Observatories within 100 km

• UNA Planetarium and ObservatoryFlorence, Alabama, 55 km (34 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Shoals Astronomy ClubFlorence, Alabama, 57 km (35 mi). Meets Friday evenings, 7-9 pm
• Mississippi State University Astronomy ClubMississippi State, Mississippi, 139 km (87 mi)
• Von Braun Astronomical SocietyHuntsville, Alabama, 151 km (94 mi)
• Memphis Astronomical SocietyMemphis, Tennessee, 153 km (95 mi). Meets Monthly meeting at Christian Brothers University, Memphis
• Rainwater Astronomers AssocFrench Camp, Mississippi, 183 km (114 mi)

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

Tishomingo record

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