Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

How dark the sky is at Rogue River-Siskiyou: Bortle Class 3, rural sky

The zenith sky here reads 21.85 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 1.1 times the brightness of a pristine natural sky (22.0), the extra coming from artificial light scattered in the air.

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 3 place.

What's up from Rogue River-Siskiyou by season

At latitude 42.1°N, the north celestial pole stands 42° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -48° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 19° 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 Rogue River-Siskiyou 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 Rogue River-Siskiyou

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Rogue River-Siskiyou

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

Never rise from Rogue River-Siskiyou

• 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 Rogue River-Siskiyou

The coordinates on this page point to Mount Ashland Ski Area base, at 1,940 m (6,370 ft): 42.083°N, 122.717°W.

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

Rogue River-Siskiyou 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 Rogue River-Siskiyou

The nearest town with motels or inns is Ashland, 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 Rogue River-Siskiyou

Star parties near Rogue River-Siskiyou

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 Rogue River-Siskiyou

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Southern Oregon SkywatchersMedford, Oregon, 30 km (19 mi). Meets 3rd Wednesday monthly, 7 pm
• Mt Shasta Star GazersMt Shasta, California, 91 km (57 mi). Meets 1st Tuesday monthly, Mt Shasta Library; warm months on a Friday near new moon at Phoenix Sky Sanctuary
• Umpqua AstronomersRoseburg, Oregon, 134 km (83 mi)
• Astronomers of HumboldtEureka, California, 188 km (117 mi). Meets Meets in Eureka or Kneeland; see astrohum.org for current times

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

Rogue River-Siskiyou record

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