Alvord Desert

How dark the sky is at Alvord Desert: Bortle Class 1, excellent dark-sky site

The zenith sky here reads 22.00 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is as dark as a natural sky gets: almost all the glow comes from airglow and starlight, not lamps.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added. On the night, haze, smoke, humidity and the Moon set the real limit; see every Bortle Class 1 place.

What's up from Alvord Desert by season

At latitude 42.5°N, the north celestial pole stands 43° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -47° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 18° above the southern horizon. These are the constellations well placed, 35° or more above the horizon, at about 10 pm in the middle of each season, brightest first.

Showpieces from Alvord Desert through the year

At about 10 pm on the 15th of each month; a dash means the sight is below 25° then.

Never set from Alvord Desert

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Lynx
• Ursa Major
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from Alvord Desert

• Caelum
• Centaurus
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Phoenix
• Vela

Never rise from Alvord Desert

• Apus
• Ara
• Carina
• Chamaeleon
• Circinus
• Crux
• Dorado
• Horologium
• Hydrus
• Indus
• Mensa
• Musca
• Norma
• Octans
• Pavo
• Pictor
• Reticulum
• Telescopium
• Triangulum Australe
• Tucana
• Volans

Where to set up at Alvord Desert

The coordinates on this page point to Alvord Desert playa, at 1,220 m (4,000 ft): 42.530°N, 118.460°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Arrive before dark, park facing away from other observers, and use red light only.

Alvord Desert among the dark sky places of Oregon

Each dot is a dark sky place, colored by Bortle class; select one for its page. Diamonds are star parties. See Oregon dark sky places for the full list, darkest first.

Camping and lodging at Alvord Desert

The nearest town with motels or inns is Fields, OR. Check the official site for campgrounds and overnight rules; many parks close their gates at night, so ask about after-dark access.

Dark sky places nearest Alvord Desert

Star parties near Alvord Desert

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Oregon puts the dark sky places, observatories, clubs, star parties, planetariums and science centers of the state on one map, with the best night out worked out.

Observatories and astronomy clubs near Alvord Desert

No observatory or astronomy club on the list is near Alvord Desert.

See observatories and astronomy clubs in Oregon. Local clubs often hold their star parties at dark sky places like this one.

Alvord Desert record

From the site's dark sky places dataset (parks_q426). The sky by season is computed from the coordinates.