page_title: Florida Keys
section_title: Dark skies recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Florida Keys / Culture and recreation / Dark skies recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: Bahia Honda State Park Milky Way as seen in October 2016
context_page_description: The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern part of Key West is just 90 miles from Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 24.3 and 25.5 degrees North latitude.
  More than 95 percent of the land area lies in Monroe County, but a small portion extends northeast into Miami-Dade County, such as Totten Key. The total land area is 137.3 square miles. As of the 2010 census the population was 73,090 with an average density of 532.34 per square mile, although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys.
context_section_description: Middle and Lower Florida Keys are among a few remaining South Florida dark skies locations accessible by car, thanks to their position along the Atlantic Ocean, and therefore with southern skies unobstructed by light pollution associated with urban development.
  Scout Key is home to Winter Star Party, a prominent annual amateur astronomy event in the United States, and one of the Top 10 star parties in the world according to BBC Sky at Night. It is an international gathering that attracts 500+ people each year who enjoy stargazing, astrophotography and Milky Way photography.
  Bahia Honda State Park is a well known dark skies location among locals offering unobstructed views of the southern night sky year-round. It also hosts amateur astronomy gatherings.
caption: 20s long exposure of Bahia Honda State Park Milky Way - October 2016
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