Jesse Owens State Park

How dark the sky is at Jesse Owens: Bortle Class 3, rural sky

The zenith sky here reads 21.71 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 Jesse Owens by season

At latitude 39.7°N, the north celestial pole stands 40° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -50° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 21° 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 Jesse Owens 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 Jesse Owens

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Jesse Owens

• Centaurus
• Grus
• Lupus
• Phoenix
• Telescopium
• Vela

Never rise from Jesse Owens

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

Where to set up at Jesse Owens

The coordinates on this page point to Maple Grove campground, Jesse Owens State Park, at 269 m (880 ft): 39.707°N, 81.726°W.

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

Jesse Owens among the dark sky places of Ohio

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

Camping and lodging at Jesse Owens

The nearest town with motels or inns is McConnelsville, OH. 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 Jesse Owens

Star parties near Jesse Owens

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Ohio 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 Jesse Owens

Observatories within 100 km

• Swasey ObservatoryGranville, Ohio, 79 km (49 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Wilderness Center Astronomy ClubWilmot, Ohio, 106 km (66 mi). Meets Monthly, last Friday
• Richland Astronomical SocietyBellville, Ohio, 121 km (75 mi). Meets Monthly meetings at Ontario library or Warren Rupp Observatory
• Columbus Astronomical SocietyColumbus, Ohio, 128 km (80 mi). Meets 2nd Saturday monthly, 8 pm
• Kanawha Valley Astronomical SocietyCross Lanes, West Virginia, 135 km (84 mi). Meets 3rd Friday monthly, 6 pm winter or 7 pm summer
• Astronomy Club of AkronAkron, Ohio, 142 km (88 mi). Meets 4th Friday monthly (Nov usually 3rd Friday; none Jun-Aug, Dec)

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

Jesse Owens record

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