Calhoun County Park

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

The zenith sky here reads 21.86 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.1 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; see every Bortle Class 3 place.

What's up from Calhoun by season

At latitude 38.9°N, the north celestial pole stands 39° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -51° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 22° 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 Calhoun 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 Calhoun

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Calhoun

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

Never rise from Calhoun

• 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 Calhoun

The coordinates on this page point to Calhoun County Park, at 318 m (1,040 ft): 38.867°N, 81.098°W.

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

Calhoun among the dark sky places of West Virginia

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

Camping and lodging at Calhoun

The nearest town with motels or inns is Grantsville, WV. 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 Calhoun

Star parties near Calhoun

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in West Virginia 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 Calhoun

Observatories within 100 km

• Good Hope ObservatoryClarksburg, West Virginia, 66 km (41 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Kanawha Valley Astronomical SocietyCross Lanes, West Virginia, 68 km (42 mi). Meets 3rd Friday monthly, 6 pm winter or 7 pm summer
• Central Appalachian Astronomy ClubGrafton, West Virginia, 106 km (66 mi)
• Ohio Valley Astronomical SocietyWest Virginia, 127 km (79 mi)
• WVU Astronomy ClubMorgantown, West Virginia, 131 km (81 mi)

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

Calhoun record

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