Brooks Memorial State Park

How dark the sky is at Brooks Memorial: Bortle Class 2, typical truly dark site

The zenith sky here reads 21.96 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 2 place.

What's up from Brooks Memorial by season

At latitude 46.0°N, the north celestial pole stands 46° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -44° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 15° 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 Brooks Memorial 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 Brooks Memorial

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Brooks Memorial

• Caelum
• Columba
• Corona Australis
• Lupus
• Microscopium

Never rise from Brooks Memorial

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

Where to set up at Brooks Memorial

The coordinates on this page point to Brooks Memorial park area, at 820 m (2,690 ft): 45.950°N, 120.666°W.

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

Brooks Memorial among the dark sky places of Washington

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

Camping and lodging at Brooks Memorial

The nearest town with motels or inns is Goldendale, WA. 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 Brooks Memorial

Star parties near Brooks Memorial

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Washington 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 inside Brooks Memorial, and astronomy clubs nearby

• Goldendale Observatory State ParkResearch observatory. Free reservation required; Oct-Mar Fri-Sun solar show 2-4 pm and evening show 7-10 pm (interim programs through Mar 2027)

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Tri-City Astronomy ClubRichland, Washington, 111 km (69 mi). Meets Usually 2nd Thursday monthly (venue on club front page)
• Rose City AstronomersPortland, Oregon, 163 km (101 mi). Meets 3rd Monday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Friends of Galileo Astronomy ClubLongview, Washington, 179 km (111 mi)
• Tacoma Astronomical SocietyTacoma, Washington, 197 km (122 mi)

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

Brooks Memorial record

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