Monte Sano State Park

How dark the sky is at Monte Sano: Bortle Class 5, suburban sky

The zenith sky here reads 20.03 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 6.1 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 Monte Sano by season

At latitude 34.7°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 Monte Sano 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 Monte Sano

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Monte Sano

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

Never rise from Monte Sano

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

Where to set up at Monte Sano

The coordinates on this page point to Monte Sano State Park (Von Braun Astronomical Society observatory), at 494 m (1,620 ft): 34.745°N, 86.511°W.

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

Monte Sano among the dark sky places of Alabama

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

Camping and lodging at Monte Sano

The nearest town with motels or inns is Huntsville, AL. 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 Monte Sano

Star parties near Monte Sano

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Alabama 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 Monte Sano

Observatories within 100 km

• Cordell-Lorenz ObservatorySewanee, Tennessee, 74 km (46 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Von Braun Astronomical SocietyHuntsville, Alabama, 5 km (3 mi)
• Shoals Astronomy ClubFlorence, Alabama, 105 km (65 mi). Meets Friday evenings, 7-9 pm
• Barnard Astronomical SocietyChattanooga, Tennessee, 120 km (75 mi). Meets Monthly, 6 pm social
• Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical SocietyNashville, Tennessee, 151 km (94 mi). Meets Monthly, Wednesday 7 pm
• Cumberland Astronomical SocietyGallatin, Tennessee, 182 km (113 mi). Meets Hendersonville Public Library, Hendersonville TN

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

Monte Sano record

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