John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

How dark the sky is at John Day Fossil Beds: Bortle Class 1, excellent dark-sky site

The zenith sky here reads 21.99 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 John Day Fossil Beds by season

At latitude 44.6°N, the north celestial pole stands 45° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -45° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 16° 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 John Day Fossil Beds 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 John Day Fossil Beds

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

Only skim the southern horizon from John Day Fossil Beds

• Caelum
• Columba
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Microscopium

Never rise from John Day Fossil Beds

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

Where to set up at John Day Fossil Beds

The coordinates on this page point to Painted Hills Overlook, at 720 m (2,360 ft): 44.650°N, 120.267°W.

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

John Day Fossil Beds 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 John Day Fossil Beds

The nearest town with motels or inns is Mitchell, 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 John Day Fossil Beds

Star parties near John Day Fossil Beds

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 John Day Fossil Beds

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Tri-City Astronomy ClubRichland, Washington, 194 km (120 mi). Meets Usually 2nd Thursday monthly (venue on club front page)

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

John Day Fossil Beds record

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