Moundville Archaeological Park

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

The zenith sky here reads 20.72 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 3.3 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.

What's up from Moundville by season

At latitude 33.0°N, the north celestial pole stands 33° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -57° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 28° 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 Moundville 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 Moundville

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Moundville

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

Never rise from Moundville

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

Where to set up at Moundville

The coordinates on this page point to Moundville mound plaza, at 45 m (150 ft): 33.005°N, 87.631°W.

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

Moundville 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 Moundville

The nearest town with motels or inns is Tuscaloosa, 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 Moundville

Star parties near Moundville

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 inside Moundville, and astronomy clubs nearby

• University of Alabama ObservatoryOpen to the public. Free monthly Public Nights on the Gallalee Hall rooftop during semesters, often with a 30-minute talk first; some deep-sky nights at Moundville

Observatories within 100 km

• James Wylie Shepherd ObservatoryMontevallo, Alabama, 73 km (45 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Univ of Montevallo Astronomy ClubMontevallo, Alabama, 73 km (45 mi)
• Mississippi State University Astronomy ClubMississippi State, Mississippi, 119 km (74 mi)
• Rainwater Astronomers AssocFrench Camp, Mississippi, 168 km (104 mi)

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

Moundville record

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