Cherry Springs State Park

Cherry Springs State Park is an 82-acre state park about 45 mins SW from Wellsboro and is named for a large stand of Black Cherry trees in it. It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having "some of the darkest night skies on the east coast" of the United States, and was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks". It worth nothing that development of the facilities at Cherry Springs was also the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

They say that it also — surprisingly — offers the chance to witness the Aurora Borealis in all its glory. Peak nights for seeing the Northern Lights occur from around the Autumnal Equinox to the end of September.

Of course with our luck we came in on a completely 100% clear cloudless night.... but also during full moon! The light of the moon was bright enough that it was just "too light" and made it practically impossible to see the myriad of stars we hoped to see :(
None-the-less we were able to spot Mars, Jupiter and Uranus with our naked eyes. I am enclosing the pictures, although, my camera, being a "point-n-shoot" non- professional Fuji with only 100x zoom, I could not get them get into a clear focus.
So L-R: risen Moon, Moon closeup, Mars, Jupiter, Jupiter & UranusRead more