Susquehannock State Forest

How dark the sky is at Susquehannock: Bortle Class 2, typical truly dark site

The zenith sky here reads 21.94 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is as dark as a natural sky gets: almost all the glow comes from airglow and starlight, not lamps.

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 2 place.

What's up from Susquehannock by season

At latitude 41.7°N, the north celestial pole stands 42° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -48° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 19° 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 Susquehannock 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 Susquehannock

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Susquehannock

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

Never rise from Susquehannock

• 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 Susquehannock

The coordinates on this page point to Forest land surrounding Cherry Springs SP, at 700 m (2,300 ft): 41.660°N, 77.835°W.

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

Susquehannock 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 Susquehannock

The nearest town with motels or inns is Coudersport, 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 Susquehannock

Star parties near Susquehannock

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 Susquehannock

Observatories within 100 km

• John L. Stull ObservatoryAlfred, New York, 66 km (41 mi), open to the public
• Very Small Array (VSA)Cogan Station, Pennsylvania, 74 km (46 mi), research observatory
• Eileen M. Collins ObservatoryCorning, New York, 84 km (52 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Central Pennsylvania ObserversState College, Pennsylvania, 96 km (60 mi)
• Buffalo Astronomical AssociationNorth Java, New York, 121 km (75 mi)
• Starlight Astronomy ClubAltoona, Pennsylvania, 137 km (85 mi). Meets 3rd Thursday monthly, 7 pm
• Oil Region Astronomical SocietyOil City, Pennsylvania, 157 km (97 mi)
• Kopernik Astronomical SocietyVestal, New York, 158 km (98 mi). Meets 1st Wednesday monthly business meeting (about one hour, then observing)

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

Susquehannock record

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