Modoc National Forest

How dark the sky is at Modoc: Bortle Class 1, excellent dark-sky site

The zenith sky here reads 21.99 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is as dark as a natural sky gets: almost all the glow comes from airglow and starlight, not lamps.

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 1 place.

What's up from Modoc by season

At latitude 41.6°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 Modoc 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 Modoc

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Modoc

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

Never rise from Modoc

• 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 Modoc

The coordinates on this page point to Medicine Lake Campground, at 2,040 m (6,690 ft): 41.586°N, 121.586°W.

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

Modoc among the dark sky places of California

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

Camping and lodging at Modoc

The nearest town with motels or inns is Tulelake, CA. 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 Modoc

Star parties near Modoc

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in California 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 Modoc

Observatories within 100 km

• Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO)Hat Creek, California, 92 km (57 mi), research observatory

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Mt Shasta Star GazersMt Shasta, California, 68 km (43 mi). Meets 1st Tuesday monthly, Mt Shasta Library; warm months on a Friday near new moon at Phoenix Sky Sanctuary
• Southern Oregon SkywatchersMedford, Oregon, 133 km (83 mi). Meets 3rd Wednesday monthly, 7 pm

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

Modoc record

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