SUNRIVER, Ore. — Perfectly perched amid a vast plateau of sagebrush, ponderosa pine and juniper in the high desert of central Oregon, the Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory offers exceptional viewpoints to observe all the wonders of the heavens.
On a recent visit, I was invited to join Observatory Director Paul Poncy and guests for a grand tour of the facility, which claims to offer the largest collection of publicly accessible telescopes in the United States and is designated by NASA as a International Dark Sky Venue.
Upon arrival, Paul Poncy greeted me at the purple-lit check-in podium next to the parking lot where myself and a few dozen visitors were strapped in for the cold December weather. Everyone was given a red-colored plastic light strip to attach to wrists, parkas or shoelaces to aid nighttime navigation and was quickly directed to a trail running past the gated nature center.
Specialist Bradley McLain gave a pre-show lecture in a meeting room where nearly 50 people, some coughing and sneezing from mild winter colds, watched a slide show explaining the fundamental nature and types of galaxies, accompanied by stunning galactic images captured by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.
After the 25-minute informative presentation, we all headed back outside, guided by the collective glow of the red bracelets, and entered the main observatory with its central main telescope and two side rooms with drop-down roofs lit around the perimeter by red lamps. In each of the observation areas exposed to the sky, half a dozen large white telescopes had been installed beforehand, supplemented by stepladders to reach the eyepieces already pointed at a planet or galaxy.
Built in 1991 by Larry Pratt, Sunriver Observatory was led by local astronomy legend and NASA Solar System Ambassador Bob Grossfeld for more than three decades. Under Grossfeld’s careful leadership, this humble little observatory was ultimately named Oregon’s first international dark sky venue in 2020.
Solar observing is also an eye-opening daytime activity offered by the center, and staff recently upgraded its main solar telescope in November by installing a new Lunt Calcium K module to observe the sun’s different layers and surface solar activity in much greater detail using this filter.
“The main telescope on the original dome is a Ritchey-Chrétien with a 20-inch aperture, and it’s a very flexible telescope,” Alex Yeager, deputy director of the observatory, told Space.com. “It can zoom out pretty well, even though it’s a very long focal length telescope, so it can go from things like the Orion Nebula to Saturn.
“Tonight we got to see different types of nebulae, like a planetary nebula called the Ring Nebula, and then we saw a supernova remnant called the Veil Nebula, the Witch’s Broom part, and then we saw a star forming region in the Orion Nebula. And the Geminid meteor shower was surprisingly large, and those are fun because they’re rocky and burn for a really long time.”
In near darkness, bathed in red lights like submariners during a torpedo attack, it is a little difficult to find the correct eyepiece in each of these complex devices. Many newbies looked at the spotting scope incorrectly and were slightly confused as to why they couldn’t see anything, until one of the student volunteers wearing light badges corrected us. Yes, I admit it. I was one of those poor souls who are desperately looking in the wrong places!
The experience was enhanced by the fact that it was a moonless night just 48 hours before an atmospheric river would descend on Oregon for the next few days with its blanket of rain-bearing clouds that would have made stargazing predictably extremely difficult.
It was also the perfect night to explore the Sunriver Observatory and Nature Center, not only because of the ultra-dry December cold, but December 14 was also the peak of the season. Geminid meteor shower and our bundled group hopping from one telescope to the next was treated to more than a dozen shooting stars crisscrossing the sky, especially on the laser-guided constellation tour hosted by Yeager on the expansive patio under a yawning, wide-open sky.
“Winter can be really nice because we always have clear skies in Central Oregon, but a cold, crisp night is the best time to have better visibility,” he notes. “The planets are starting to rise high in the sky, so we have a great view of Saturn, and Jupiter is here now, at the end of our programs. We also have galaxies showing up like the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest galaxy to us, and it’s huge. We’re just getting close to where we can get some of the other showcase galaxies. We’re two seasons in, so we’ve gotten a good example of each type of object.”
As the dreaded light pollution continues to encroach on every corner of the globe, the need to preserve dark skies becomes essential to maintaining an elemental connection with our universe and our small but significant role in its complex cosmic beauty. As a dedicated student of this scientific field, it’s a question that Yeager remains passionate about.
“You can definitely tell when people come from a place where they can’t see the stars,” he adds. “Because even on moonlit nights, they will look up and be amazed at how many there are. I’ve heard so many times, ‘It’s like they’re on our knees!’ With Sunriver and its lighting practices, it started as a way to help nature and nocturnal pollinators. This was a nice advantage that proved beneficial to astronomy. Then, light pollution started to increase more and more. People like to look at the night sky.
“It’s one of the main reasons to come live and visit Bend. It’s hard to get it back once you lose it. We’re never going to turn Manhattan into a dark sky area. But as Bend and La Pine grow, it’s easier to protect the lighting and try to preserve it as much as possible while still seeing at night.”
As the program drew to a close and temperatures continued to drop to freezing, customers lined up for one last look. Six-year-old Lucas Kincaid of Molalla, Oregon, stood with his family to take one last look into the massive main telescope under the dome with anxious anticipation, snug in his fur hooded jacket like a hibernating bear cub about to meet the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
“I saw something blue and also Saturn,” he exclaimed. “I’ve never seen a telescope this big!”
It was an exhilarating evening, both educational and inspiring in this Season of Lights. If your future travel plans bring you to Central Oregon anytime during the holiday season or into the new year, a stimulating visit to the Sunriver Nature Center and Observatory is well worth the trip. Reservations are required for Sunriver Observatory’s 90-minute winter in-depth program and more information on year-round pricing and schedules can be found at their official website.
