Choccolocco State Forest

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

The zenith sky here reads 21.06 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 2.4 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 Choccolocco by season

At latitude 33.7°N, the north celestial pole stands 34° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -56° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 27° 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 Choccolocco 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 Choccolocco

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Choccolocco

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

Never rise from Choccolocco

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

Where to set up at Choccolocco

The coordinates on this page point to Choccolocco State Forest entrance, Creekside Dr, at 250 m (820 ft): 33.720°N, 85.694°W.

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

Choccolocco 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 Choccolocco

The nearest town with motels or inns is Oxford, 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 Choccolocco

Star parties near Choccolocco

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 Choccolocco

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Georgia Tech Astronomy ClubAtlanta, Georgia, 114 km (71 mi)
• Univ of Montevallo Astronomy ClubMontevallo, Alabama, 127 km (79 mi)
• Von Braun Astronomical SocietyHuntsville, Alabama, 138 km (86 mi)
• Flint River Astronomy ClubGriffin, Georgia, 142 km (88 mi). Meets 2nd Thursday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Barnard Astronomical SocietyChattanooga, Tennessee, 150 km (93 mi). Meets Monthly, 6 pm social

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

Choccolocco record

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