Whitefish Dunes State Park

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

The zenith sky here reads 21.76 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.2 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 Whitefish Dunes by season

At latitude 44.9°N, the north celestial pole stands 45° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -45° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 16° 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 Whitefish Dunes 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 Whitefish Dunes

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Whitefish Dunes

• Caelum
• Columba
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Microscopium

Never rise from Whitefish Dunes

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

Where to set up at Whitefish Dunes

The coordinates on this page point to Whitefish Dunes park area, at 180 m (590 ft): 44.920°N, 87.204°W.

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

Whitefish Dunes among the dark sky places of Wisconsin

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

Camping and lodging at Whitefish Dunes

The nearest town with motels or inns is Sturgeon Bay, WI. 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 Whitefish Dunes

Star parties near Whitefish Dunes

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Wisconsin 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 Whitefish Dunes

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Door Peninsula Astronomical SocietySturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, 16 km (10 mi). Meets Astronomy Campus, Crossroads at Big Creek
• Neville Public Museum Astronomical SocietyGreen Bay, Wisconsin, 81 km (50 mi). Meets 1st Wednesday monthly (no January), 6:30-8:30 pm
• Grand Traverse Astronomical SocietyTraverse City, Michigan, 123 km (77 mi). Meets Monthly, usually 1st Friday
• Sheboygan Astronomical SocietySheboygan, Wisconsin, 138 km (85 mi)
• Northeast Wisconsin Stargazers (NEWSTAR)Appleton, Wisconsin, 148 km (92 mi). Meets 3rd Wednesday monthly, 7-9 pm

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

Whitefish Dunes record

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