Black Moshannon State Park

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

The zenith sky here reads 21.66 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 Black Moshannon by season

At latitude 40.9°N, the north celestial pole stands 41° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -49° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 20° 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 Black Moshannon 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 Black Moshannon

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Black Moshannon

• Centaurus
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Phoenix
• Vela

Never rise from Black Moshannon

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

Where to set up at Black Moshannon

The coordinates on this page point to Park center (Wikipedia infobox point), at 585 m (1,920 ft): 40.898°N, 78.056°W.

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

Black Moshannon among the dark sky places of Pennsylvania

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

Camping and lodging at Black Moshannon

The nearest town with motels or inns is Philipsburg, PA. 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 Black Moshannon

Star parties near Black Moshannon

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Pennsylvania 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 Black Moshannon

Observatories within 100 km

• Paul E. Hickes ObservatoryHuntingdon, Pennsylvania, 44 km (27 mi), open to the public
• Very Small Array (VSA)Cogan Station, Pennsylvania, 97 km (60 mi), research observatory
• Bucknell ObservatoryLewisburg, Pennsylvania, 97 km (60 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Central Pennsylvania ObserversState College, Pennsylvania, 21 km (13 mi)
• Starlight Astronomy ClubAltoona, Pennsylvania, 52 km (32 mi). Meets 3rd Thursday monthly, 7 pm
• Astronomical Society of HarrisburgHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, 121 km (75 mi). Meets Monthly general meeting, Mondays 7:30-9 pm (see astrohbg.org for venue)
• Tri-State AstronomersHagerstown, Maryland, 143 km (89 mi). Meets Monthly, Wednesday 7 pm (3rd Wednesday in 2026)
• Oil Region Astronomical SocietyOil City, Pennsylvania, 149 km (93 mi)

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

Black Moshannon record

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