Palos Preserves Forest Preserve (Urban Night Sky Place)

How dark the sky is at Palos Preserves: Bortle Class 7, suburban and urban transition

The zenith sky here reads 18.61 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 22.7 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 Palos Preserves by season

At latitude 41.7°N, the north celestial pole stands 42° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -48° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 19° 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 Palos Preserves 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 Palos Preserves

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Palos Preserves

• Caelum
• Centaurus
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Phoenix
• Vela

Never rise from Palos Preserves

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

Where to set up at Palos Preserves

The coordinates on this page point to Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, 9800 Willow Springs Rd, at 190 m (620 ft): 41.709°N, 87.877°W.

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

Palos Preserves among the dark sky places of Illinois

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

Camping and lodging at Palos Preserves

The nearest town with motels or inns is Orland Park, IL. 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 Palos Preserves

Star parties near Palos Preserves

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Illinois 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 Palos Preserves

Observatories within 100 km

• Glen D. Riley ObservatoryNaperville, Illinois, 23 km (15 mi), open to the public
• Dearborn ObservatoryEvanston, Illinois, 42 km (26 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Naperville Astronomical AssocNaperville, Illinois, 23 km (14 mi). Meets Monthly meeting, 300 E Gartner Rd
• Chicago Astronomical SocietyChicago, Illinois, 23 km (14 mi). Meets Monthly, 5:30 pm chat
• Northwest Suburban AstronomersArlington Heights, Illinois, 43 km (27 mi). Meets Monthly public meetings (see nsaclub.org calendar); formerly Willow Recreation Center, Hoffman Estates
• Skokie Valley AstronomersDeerfield, Illinois, 51 km (32 mi). Meets 2nd Friday monthly, 8 pm
• Fox Valley Astronomical SocietySleepy Hollow, Illinois, 52 km (32 mi)

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

Palos Preserves record

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