Huron-Manistee National Forest

How dark the sky is at Huron-Manistee: 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 Huron-Manistee by season

At latitude 43.9°N, the north celestial pole stands 44° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -46° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 17° 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 Huron-Manistee 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 Huron-Manistee

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Huron-Manistee

• Caelum
• Centaurus
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus

Never rise from Huron-Manistee

• Apus
• Ara
• Carina
• 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 Huron-Manistee

The coordinates on this page point to Manistee NF (Wikipedia reference point), at 270 m (890 ft): 43.850°N, 85.950°W.

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

Huron-Manistee among the dark sky places of Michigan

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

Camping and lodging at Huron-Manistee

The nearest town with motels or inns is Manistee, MI. 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 Huron-Manistee

Star parties near Huron-Manistee

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Michigan 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 Huron-Manistee

Observatories within 100 km

• Brooks Astronomical ObservatoryMt. Pleasant, Michigan, 94 km (58 mi), open to the public
• Joseph H. Rogers ObservatoryTraverse City, Michigan, 96 km (60 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Muskegon Astronomical SocietyMuskegon, Michigan, 71 km (44 mi). Meets Monthly business meeting at the MAS Observatory (Muskegon County Wastewater site)
• Grand Traverse Astronomical SocietyTraverse City, Michigan, 96 km (60 mi). Meets Monthly, usually 1st Friday
• Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical AssociationLowell, Michigan, 101 km (63 mi). Meets Monthly in winter, spring and autumn at Grand Rapids Public Museum
• Shoreline Amateur Astronomical AssocHolland, Michigan, 106 km (66 mi). Meets Monthly membership meetings Sep-May (none in summer); see holland-saaa.org for venue
• Sheboygan Astronomical SocietySheboygan, Wisconsin, 143 km (89 mi)

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

Huron-Manistee record

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