PARI stargazing forecast — Friday, August 14

Western NC · Bortle 3 · 35.200, -82.867 · Snapshot generated Sat, 15 Aug 2026 02:05:08 GMT

Good (High confidence)

3h clear window during astronomical night, mean cloud 39%.

Best observing window tonight

Fri 6:00 p.m. – Fri 8:00 p.m. (3h, 6% mean cloud)

Astronomical night: Fri 4:21 p.m. → Sat 2:51 a.m.
Moon: New moon · 2% illuminated
Mean cloud (during night): 39% (min 1%)

Site

PARI (the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) occupies a former NASA and Department of Defense satellite tracking station deep in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest, and now runs public tours, camps, and ticketed star parties around its collection of radio and optical telescopes.

Drive from Toronto: Located in Rosman, NC, within Pisgah National Forest, southwest of Asheville.

Best time of year: Check PARI's event calendar for scheduled Star Party dates — these are ticketed evenings with staff-run telescopes.

Open the live 48-hour forecast →

Citations & data sources

Open-Meteo Forecast API (cloud, humidity, wind, visibility)
Open-Meteo astronomical data (sunrise, sunset, moon)
Bortle scale reference for site darkness
Editorial guide for PARI: /sites/pisgah-astronomical-research-institute.txt
Structured site data: /sites/pisgah-astronomical-research-institute.json
Live MCP server (AI agents): https://koohxdehsweadgdegrly.supabase.co/functions/v1/mcp

This is a build-time snapshot — the live forecast at https://ontarionightsky.com/?site=pisgah-astronomical-research-institute updates continuously.