Should you’re in search of the finest places for astrophotography and skywatching, look no additional than the Florida Keys. A 125-mile string of tropical coral islands linked by bridges that stretches into the shallow waters of the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico, it is house to fishing, boating and snorkeling, but additionally stargazing.
Associated: Evening sky for tonight: Seen planets, stars and extra on this night’s sky
In addition to a number of the darkest skies on the U.S. East Coast, it is also the nation’s southernmost level. At 24.5 levels north, simply above the Tropic of Most cancers, it is doable to see many stars and deep-sea objects normally solely seen from the Southern Hemisphere. The proper location for the one Winter Star Party within the U.S.
Full disclaimer: This text was made doable by journey offered by Florida Keys & Key West to expertise its night time skies and by the Southern Cross Astronomical Society to its Winter Star Occasion.
Winter Star Occasion
Value: From $205 per individual.
Period: 7 nights
The occasion takes place underneath Bortle 3 skies on the Camp Jackson Sawyer and Camp Wesumkee scout camps within the Florida Keys through the February new moon.
If you wish to e book the Winter Star Occasion, head to the Southern Cross Astronomical Society.
I used to be transfixed by Venus shining brilliantly within the west in deep twilight once I first observed a shiny star due south, simply above the Florida Straits. There was no moon within the sky, and from West Summerland Key, the star was far too low to be Sirius — the brightest star within the sky — which was shining a lot greater within the sky near Orion. What I used to be seeing was Canopus, the second-brightest star within the sky, glimmering over the open ocean.
Within the Southern Hemisphere, Canopus and Sirius journey throughout the sky collectively, however within the Northern Hemisphere, solely Sirius rises above the horizon. Canopus’ shine shimmered over the ocean like a path was being laid from the Florida Keys to Cuba simply 90 miles throughout the water.
It was the height means of a week-long street journey by way of the Florida Keys, chasing the southern stars from the most effective stargazing spots on this subtropical paradise.
plan a stargazing journey
I get requested lots about the most effective locations to go stargazing. My reply is all the time the identical. Firstly, discover someplace away from folks you will get pleasure from visiting, no matter whether or not the night time skies are cloud-free. That means, you will have a great journey, no matter occurs. Secondly, all the time go the week earlier than the new moon when our satellite tv for pc rises after midnight. With the moon section good, places checked on a light pollution map and an invitation secured to the one winter star get together within the U.S., my spouse Gill and I set off on a starry-eyed street journey from Miami to Key West within the Florida Keys through some off-the-beaten-track locations.
Islamorada and Marathon: sunsets and stars
Having landed in Miami, we drove south for 2 hours, however the actual journey started at Fiesta Key RV Resort, a secluded retreat surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico. We watched the planets seem behind a “Warning: crocodiles” signal and received up early to look at a shocking dawn earlier than watching turtles and coral reefs from Transparensea’s glass-bottom boat.
Later that day, we checked into Grassy Flats Resort, Marathon, simply in time to look at a sundown from a basic Florida Keys pier. Then the clouds rolled in. Gulp. Would we see any stars the following night time on the star get together?
Bahia Honda and Huge Pine Key: kayaking and Cassiopeia jellyfish
From Marathon, we drove farther west, throughout the Seven Mile Bridge and into the Decrease Keys, the darkest a part of the Florida Keys. We could not resist spending just a few hours in Bahia Honda State Park — a really perfect location for stargazing should you do not thoughts tenting at its great, south-facing Sandspur campground (because the park is closed to guests at night time) — and residential to each unbelievable white sand seashores and a photogenic derelict railroad bridge.
A couple of miles away was West Summerland Key — our location for the star get together — however first, we had a date with Huge Pine Kayak Adventures to discover one of many darkest areas, No Title Key, which remains to be predominantly native forest. After negotiating a tangle of mangrove roots in a good channel, we emerged right into a shallow lagoon. The mud beneath our kayaks was house to hundreds of thousands of tiny pulsing jellyfish that every one appeared the wrong way up.
“These are Cassiopeia jellyfish,” my information Invoice Keogh, who’s been operating kayak excursions because the Nineteen Eighties, instructed me. “Whoever named them will need to have had an appreciation for astronomy.” The 5 shiny stars of Cassiopeia, “the queen,” are seen low within the northern sky from right here as a W or M-shape, relying on when it is considered. Because it’s circumpolar, it seems to revolve round Polaris, the North Star. Invoice explains that Cassiopeia jellyfish host algae that stay of their our bodies, which photosynthesize and produce easy meals for the jellyfish. “It is like having grapes dropped into your mouth, mentioned Invoice. “Cassiopeia jellyfish have a queen’s way of life.”
After smoked tuna, deep-fried conch and Key lime pie at No Title Pub, we see alligators on the Blue Gap Statement Platform and hike across the Fred C. Manillo Wildlife Path — an ideal place for stargazing, albeit with the most effective views west and north. After checking in on the peaceable Parmer’s Resort — after some impromptu conferences with Key deer in Little Torch Key — we delighted within the clear skies, recharged our batteries and headed to the star get together.
The Winter Star Occasion
The Winter Star Occasion is cut up into two camps owned by the Scouts of America — Camp Jackson Sawyer for campers and Camp Wesumkee for these in RVs. With its buildings badly broken by Hurricane Irma in 2017, the latter has an apocalyptic look. Not that we may see the crumbling concrete for lengthy; as the sunshine pale, fats Dobsonian telescopes and lengthy refractors had been silhouetted towards the deep blue twilight skies. In addition to its Bortle 3 skies, this location is known for its “regular air” beloved by astrophotographers, who end establishing within the fading gentle, checking out firmware updates and aligning motorized mounts. Intriguingly, numerous Seestar S50 sensible telescopes had been perched alongside ridiculously massive setups. I would by no means seen so many big telescopes.
I casually requested somebody if there have been locations we must always go, as guests with no gear, to look by way of others’ telescopes. “Simply ask anybody with a Dob,” mentioned one stargazer, referring to the behemoth Dobsonian telescopes round us. “They love displaying the night time sky to anybody passing by.” It is true. Via a 16-inch Dob we noticed Jupiter and its Nice Purple Spot, then Venus as a crescent shortly earlier than it set. “Venus isn’t value taking a look at — there’s normally nothing to see — however wow!” mentioned one stargazer. Subsequent up was Mars with a definite whitish polar ice cap, then the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros and three open clusters — Caroline’s Rose cluster (NGC 7789) in Cassiopeia, M35 in Gemini and M46 within the southern constellation of Puppis.
Spectacular, however I am a naked-eye stargazer at coronary heart, and I could not take my eyes from Canopus out to sea, primarily as a result of I needed to seek out its companion to the southwest, Achernar in Eridanus. I lastly glimpse it shining faintly within the horizon haze. I exploit it to make a triangle with Canopus and an imaginary level beneath the horizon — a stargazer’s means of discovering due south.
Strolling the location at the hours of darkness, solely the occasional purple gentle stays. We go to a number of teams, grabbing just a few phrases and telescopic views with of us from as distant as California, Maine and Illinois, a lot of whom have pushed throughout the U.S. with their big telescopes.
Our host, Tim Khan on the Southern Cross Astronomical Society and organizer of the star get together, goals his TEC 200mm refractor telescope — designed for planets — and reveals us the shadow of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede crossing the clouds of the large planet. A shocking sight!
We will not keep as much as see the Southern Cross rise — it is not occurring till simply earlier than daybreak — so we take one final have a look at Canopus-shine on the ocean, earlier than heading off to organize for an enormous day and night time tomorrow.
Dry Tortugas: the darkest place within the U.S.?
Dry Tortugas National Park might be the darkest place within the U.S. About 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West, it is a coral island house to the large Fort Jefferson, which was as soon as used as a jail through the Civil Warfare. It is doable to camp right here in primitive fashion, nevertheless it sells out months prematurely, so we accept a day journey there with Key West Seaplane Adventures. It is a wild experience in an getting old DeHaviland Otter, with sharks, shipwrecks, and loggerhead turtles seen beneath us within the extremely shallow coral sea.
Whereas strolling the sandy moat wall of Fort Jefferson, I begin a dialog with a sailor moored offshore in a yacht, lamenting that I can not keep abroad on the island. He says that whereas the night time skies are stunningly darkish, there’s all the time a inexperienced glow on the horizon — squid boats utilizing LED lights to draw plankton and the squid that feed on them. I am unhappy to depart Dry Tortugas so quickly, however we’ve got a nocturnal journey deliberate that can make up for it.
The Outpost: a stargazer’s dream vacation spot
Minutes after touchdown again in Key West, we’re off once more, this time by boat to the sting of what locals name the backcountry — the shallow coral sea we had been lately flying over. The sunshine fades quick as we zero in on The Outpost, a floating houseboat restyled as a cell eco-retreat by Mellow Adventures. As we received nearer, I immediately realized that it was glowing purple. “That is no houseboat,” I feel. “It is a floating observatory.” It isn’t fitted with any stargazing gear save for a pair of binoculars, however there are few higher locations to look at the night time sky. The Outpost — which has two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bunch of kayaks strapped to an out of doors deck — always strikes, so it is not good for astrophotography (although some one-second, excessive ISO photos work high quality). “We are able to take this factor anyplace a buyer needs — even out to the Dry Tortugas,” says Captain Rob earlier than he leaves us to look at Venus dazzle within the western sky earlier than sinking right into a small coral island. I get up often all night time and head out to the deck to stargaze — I see the Winter Milky Method stretched overhead in a ghostly arc and watch the island gobble up the celebrities of Taurus, then Orion, then Gemini. Solitude beneath the celebrities is damaged by the chatter of brown pelicans, double-crested cormorants and frigate birds within the mangroves. We wrestle the kayaks from the deck and paddle across the island earlier than Captain Rob arrives to take us again to civilization.
Everglades Nationwide Park: Chasing the ultimate stars
We drive away from Key West, and ultimately out of the Florida Keys, however there’s one last stargazing cease to make — an eco-tent at Flamingo Everglades, deep inside Everglades Nationwide Park. Right here, underneath an unlimited open sky, I take a final have a look at the southern stars, tracing out Eridanus right down to a faintly seen Achernar. It is our last celestial sight, the following day stuffed with views of crocodiles, alligators, manatees and even bottlenose dolphins within the waterways, earlier than a late-night flight out of Miami.
With its darkish skies and distinctive view of the southern stars, the Florida Keys delivered an unforgettable stargazing expertise with loads of distinctive adventures by day.
