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C.J. Baker, an amateur astronomer living in Woodinville, Washington, has rarely been able to see the stars from his home. His private star parties are more notable for their encounters with startled wildlife and early morning delivery people. On one night a opossum ran out of the bushes into his leg and promptly fell over dead. Later, about 3:00 AM, a startled newspaper deliveryman saw this in his headlights: a man standing in the ditch, one hand over his eyes and the other grasping huge binoculars. Was it appropriate or even safe to offer this person help? Would you?
With such dedication to stargazing C.J. has visited only one observatory. He doesn’t know where they are or how to visit them. Yet even in the soggy, cloudy, light-polluted Puget Sound area near C.J.’s home there are two observatories, both open to the public. In the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon there are at least eleven observatories. A tour of these eleven would take you through the diverse facilities of large university owned observatories to state parks to owner- built, out-in-the-boonies observatories. Viewing conditions range from the cloudy skies of the west to the clear, dry, desert skies of the eastern regions to the problem of light pollution just about everywhere.
Western Washington and Oregon
Western Washington and Oregon, noted for their poor viewing conditions, are represented by four observatories on this tour. Astronomers here are known to be optimistic.
Battle Point Astronomical Association owns and operates the Edwin E. Ritchie Observatory on Bainbridge Island at Battle Point Park. The Battle Point group, a non profit organization of amateur astronomers, designed and built their own observatory in Helix House at the south end of the park. A rooftop dome houses their 27.5” reflector telescope. The facility also includes a library, offices, classrooms and workshops. The public is invited for star parties, seminars and classes. Star parties are held twice a month during new moon and full moon. Astronomy classes for beginners are held before each star party. Tours of the observatory are held on second and fourth Saturdays.
The Tacoma Astronomical Society operates the Pettinger-Guiley Observatory in Puyallup. The observatory houses a 15” refractor telescope and a multimedia presentation room called the Moon Room. The observatory is open two Saturdays a month. Moon Room shows are presented hourly through the evening.
The Vernonia Peak Observatory is operated by the Northwest Astronomy Group atop a hill in Vernonia, a town in northwestern Oregon. They currently own and operate a 12.5"”Newtonian reflector telescope but have ambitious plans for the future. They plan to build a facility that will give amateurs a chance at professional level research from anywhere in the US or Canada. To do this, they plan to build a 24” telescope equipped with an active, segmented, electronically focused secondary mirror to increase resolution and CCD cameras to increase light gathering power. This 24” telescope will behave like a 200” conventional telescope. There will be no need to visit the observatory physically; the telescopes can be controlled by computer remotely. Research projects from schools, clubs and societies will be welcomed. There are no formal public viewing opportunities but the group welcomes questions and visits can be arranged.
The Haggart Astronomical Observatory is the only “year round” observatory west of the Cascades and the only public observatory in the Portland area. It is located on the Clackamas County Community College campus on the grounds of the John Inskeep Environmental Learning Center. The observatory was closed for three years, from May 1998- May 2001, to repair structural damage to the support timbers, deck and warming hut. It is now open to the public every Saturday night that weather permits. The Haggart Observatory is named for Harold Haggart who hand cut and crimped every wedge shaped piece of the dome in 1948. Mr. Haggart’s widow donated the dome and drive to the Environmental Learning Center in 1988. The dome is still weather tight and the drive works perfectly. There is an observing deck 45’ above the ground and tree level. The telescope is a 24” Newtonian reflector. They plan to add a 4” refractor with a CCD camera piggybacked onto the main telescope to provide a video feed to the ground level meeting room.
Central and Eastern Washington and Oregon
The best viewing conditions are here in this clear-skied, arid region but observatories can be difficult to locate and visit.
Manastash Ridge Observatory is located about nine miles southwest of Ellensburg in central Washington. Located on the crest of the Manastash Ridge, it is blessed with some the best viewing conditions ever but is exceedingly difficult to visit. In fact, casual visitors are not welcomed because the roads are so dangerous. Primarily, astronomy students from the University of Washington and Central Washington State University use the observatory. The telescope is a 30” Cassegrain reflector, with focal reducing optics and an unusually wide 12 arc minute field-of-view. The students use the telescope mainly to learn basic observational technique.
Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory is located within the Hanford Nuclear Reservation about 18 miles northwest of the Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick and Pasco) in southeastern Washington. The area that includes Rattlesnake Mountain has been untouched by human activity and has been named the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve. There are hundreds of species of native wildlife and plants, including rattlesnakes, but no radioactive rabbits. The observatory is owned by Battelle Memorial Institute and was established in 1966. The 0.8-meter Cassegrain reflector telescope was installed in 1971. Research concentrated on solar activity, white dwarf stars and the planets through the 1980s when funding stopped. It was abandoned and all but forgotten until 1996 when AASTA, the Alliance for the Advancement of Science through Astronomy started operating the observatory. AASTA is upgrading all the systems so that the observatory can be used remotely, by Internet, in science classrooms. There are no formal times for the public to visit, but tours can be arranged, especially if you have contributed in some way to AASTA.
Jewett Observatory is located on the Washington State University campus in Pullman in eastern Washington. Their telescope is a 12” refractor; the primary lens was made about 1889. Students aren’t usually able to use the 12” refractor on their own campus for research because of light pollution. They must use facilities in New Mexico remotely for research projects. The observatory is open to the public frequently but only during the school year, no summer programs.
In contrast, Goldendale Observatory in Goldendale, Washington is dedicated to year round public viewing. No research is done here, only stargazing, educating and entertaining the public. Goldendale’s 24” Cassegrain reflecting telescope is especially beloved by the citizens of Goldendale and has an interesting history. Four members of the Vancouver, Washington Astronomy Club made it. They were aware that rainy, cloudy Vancouver was not the best place for their telescope and so they offered it free of charge to the city of Goldendale if the city could come up with a site and observatory. It took six years to make the telescope, carefully grinding five pounds of material away from the 200 pound Pyrex disk for the mirror. At first the observatory was used only one night a week every other week by the local astronomy club. There were some hard times trying to come up with money for maintenance, staff, improvements and mortgage payments. Since 1981 The Goldendale Observatory has been a state park funded for education programs for the public. The Observatory is open to the public year round. The summer program, April 1 through September 30, is Wednesday through Sunday. The winter program, October 1 through March 31, is Saturday and Sunday. Steve Stout, the observatory director has a local reputation for being a “super nice guy.” He has been known to give tours and slide shows even if you show up on the wrong day.
Pine Mountain Observatory is a University of Oregon facility located about 30 miles southeast of Bend near Millican in central Oregon. The Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory group runs the programs for visitors, which include tours and viewing sessions. There are three reflector telescopes, 15”, 24” and 32”, each in their own domes. CCD cameras are mounted on the 24” and 32” telescopes. Visitors can take a nebula home with them, the digital image on disk, that is. There is a campground across the street from the observatory and amateur astronomers are encouraged to bring their own telescopes and spend the night viewing. The observatory welcomes visitors Friday and Saturday nights from late May through September weather permitting. Be sure to have enough gas, food and water along if you plan to visit. Bend is about an hour’s drive away.
Because of light pollution control Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory has excellent viewing conditions. It is located on River Road next to the lake in Sunriver in central Oregon. The observatory has ten large telescopes and on busy nights they are all in action. Evening viewing programs are offered from March through September. Private star parties can be accommodated too.
The ARGO Cooperative is somewhere in eastern Oregon. ARGO has several meanings for its five members. In addition to “Astronomical Research Group of Oregon” ARGO was Jason’s ship and ARGO Navis is an ancient constellation. This observatory is strictly private. Visitors are restricted to other amateur astronomers engaged in electronic imaging and is by invitation only. The members concentrate mainly on imaging even though their equipment is research capable. If you manage to stumble onto the site, you won’t find any of their sophisticated equipment, just a large population of cottontail bunnies who like the quiet fenced in area
It is said that traveling with a goal or objective in mind makes the journey more rewarding. Some like to go pub-crawling but observatory-crawling is much healthier. You might lose a little sleep but you won’t have a hangover. Have fun on your tour of the observatories of the Pacific Northwest.
Here are a few tips for visiting an observatory:
*Dress warmly.
*Carry a red flashlight.
*Don’t grab the telescope while viewing.
*Be impressed with the knowledge and skill of the astronomer.
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