Siuslaw National Forest

How dark the sky is at Siuslaw: 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 Siuslaw by season

At latitude 44.5°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 Siuslaw 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 Siuslaw

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

Only skim the southern horizon from Siuslaw

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

Never rise from Siuslaw

• 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 Siuslaw

The coordinates on this page point to Marys Peak summit, at 1,250 m (4,100 ft): 44.504°N, 123.552°W.

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

Siuslaw 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 Siuslaw

The nearest town with motels or inns is Corvallis, 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 Siuslaw

Star parties near Siuslaw

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 Siuslaw

Observatories within 100 km

• Pine Mountain ObservatoryBend, Oregon, 61 km (38 mi), research observatory

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Nightsky-45 Astronomy ClubSalem, Oregon, 57 km (35 mi). Meets 2nd Wednesday monthly, 7 pm
• Eugene Astronomical SocietyEugene, Oregon, 63 km (39 mi). Meets Monthly, Thursday 7 pm
• Rose City AstronomersPortland, Oregon, 132 km (82 mi). Meets 3rd Monday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Umpqua AstronomersRoseburg, Oregon, 144 km (89 mi)
• Friends of Galileo Astronomy ClubLongview, Washington, 189 km (117 mi)

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

Siuslaw record

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