DarkSky Oregon
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Introducing the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary
We are thrilled to share some very exciting news – the first phase of the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary in southeastern Oregon has been certified by DarkSky International! At 2.5 million acres, the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary is the largest Dark Sky Sanctuary in the world. The newly-certified, star-studded Sanctuary in Lake County is within the largest intact area of world class dark skies in the lower 48 states and represents an area about one-half the size of New Jersey!
The Oregon Outback Dark Sky Network that submitted the nomination represents a diverse team of state and local land managers, businesses, nonprofits and private individuals that worked tirelessly for the past four years to reach this outstanding milestone. But they’re not done yet–the Network aspires to expand the certified area eastward into Harney and Malheur Counties to encompass a full 11.4 million acres!
The scale of this designation and the breadth of the partnership effort that went into it reflects the truly remarkable nighttime resource that we have here in Oregon, as well as the value of dark skies—for human and wildlife health, for the preservation of carefully choreographed ecosystem relationships, for our deep cultural history of looking skyward, and for the economic benefits to gateway cities in support of dark sky tourism.
DarkSky Oregon supports the OODS Network’s efforts by analyzing and providing night sky brightness measurement data and maps, which confirm the pristine nature of the Sanctuary’s night skies.
Learn more about this remarkable International Dark Sky Sanctuary and the efforts to protect Oregon’s night skies.
https://www.southernoregon.org/dark-skies/oregon-outback-dark-sky-sanctuary/#
Part 1: Where in Oregon is the Night Sky Most Pristine? And, Most Light Polluted?
DarkSky Oregon and volunteers support a network of Sky Quality Meters across the state which continuously record how bright and how dark the night sky is overhead. The data tell us which areas still have pristine night skies, which areas are polluted by artificial light, and which fall in-between.
This map of Oregon shows the locations of our Sky Quality Meters. The size of the yellow plus symbol tells how starry the night sky is at each spot. The largest plus symbols represent nearly pristine night skies – a very rare environment compared to most of the rest of the USA. The smallest plus symbols represent the light polluted sites – around the cities of Central Oregon, the Willamette Valley and Portland.
The next plot shows in detail how dark the night sky is overhead at our measurement locations – this data was used to make the Oregon map above. The darkest – the most pristine – night sky locations are at the bottom of the plot. The most light polluted are at the top of the plot.
Another way to look at the data in the plot is to compare how much brighter the clear (not cloudy) night sky is at each location by comparison to one of the darker, pristine night sky locations.
The rightmost column of this table shows how much brighter each site is, by comparison to the darkest site measured at present, at Crater Lake National Park. The night skies in the cities of Central Oregon sites are about 5x brighter than at Crater Lake. The night skies in Portland are about 20x brighter.
It turns out that clouds at night reflect light pollution downward in cities, causing the night sky to be very bright. And, away from cities, where there is little light pollution, clouds at night are dark because there is no light pollution to reflect back downward, and moreover, the clouds block out the stars, so the night sky measures very dark.
This last table summarizes the brightness of cloudy night skies at our measurement locations. The rightmost column shows that on cloudy nights, the Central Oregon city skies are 20x brighter and Portland skies are up to 300x brighter than the cloudy night skies at pristine night sky sites, a very un-natural situation.
Support the effort to reduce light pollution. Contact us at:
Key Results from the Oregon SQM Network:
IDA Oregon Announces Rebranding as DarkSky Oregon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IDA Oregon Announces Rebranding as DarkSky Oregon
OREGON, USA - The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) Oregon Chapter is pleased to announce its rebranding to DarkSky Oregon.
The change reflects the rebranding of International Dark-Sky Association’s (IDA) to DarkSky International and supports DarkSky Oregon becoming its own 501c3 legal entity. The rebranding serves to simplify and modernize our name and logo.
DarkSky Oregon has been dedicated to protecting Oregon's nighttime environment for over four years. We work with communities, parks, businesses, and individuals to promote responsible outdoor lighting. We are helping multiple communities and parks to attain dark sky certification in support of the economic benefits of astrotourism while preserving starry skies. We run a state-wide project to measure the darkness of our night skies and track change over time. We have helped to preserve some of the darkest skies in the United States, raised awareness of the impacts of overly-bright night skies on people and the wild ecosystem and helped to identify the cultural and economic benefits of dark skies in Oregon.
"We are excited to unveil our new brand as DarkSky Oregon," said Bill Kowalik, Chairperson. "Our new name better reflects our mission to protect and preserve Oregon's dark skies for the benefit of all. We look forward to continuing our work with people and organizations across the state to promote responsible outdoor lighting and protect our nighttime environment."
DarkSky Oregon will continue to provide educational outreach and resources to protect the night sky. For more information about DarkSky Oregon and its ongoing projects, please visit our new website at www.darkskyoregon.org.
Contact:
DarkSky Oregon
hello@darkskyoregon.org
Oregon's Night Skies
Sky Brightness Map - Oregon
Large areas of Oregon still have dark skies at night -- the green, purple, and especially the black areas in the map have dark, Milky Way skies. The white, red and yellow areas have light-polluted skies in which few stars are visible.
The map shows the amount of skyglow directly overhead at each spot. The amount of skyglow is derived from night time satellite images, which were taken at about 2AM during the year 2022. The map shows county boundaries, main roads and the urban growth boundaries of Oregon cities. Each city lies under a dome of skyglow that extends far outward, caused by wasted light, escaping upward and scattered by the atmosphere.
Here are two links for finding dark-sky locations:
www.lightpollutionmap.info
www.darkskyfinder.com
Why Are Streetlights Turning Purple?
Why are streetlights turning purple article by Dark Sky Consulting, LLC
Article - Published by Dark Sky Consulting, LLC
Summary: Chromaticity shift is affecting an increasing number of commercial outdoor lighting products. This may affect public perception of solid-state lighting and could change the nature of skyglow over cities. This post explores what it is, why it's happening, and what can be done about it.