Rant: Light pollution ruined my star trail shots last weekend

I drove out to a remote lake for some astrophotography. My star trail pictures came out blurry because of nearby city glow. Does anyone know a dark sky site within a few hours of Seattle that has minimal light pollution?

4 comments

4 Comments

kim_ramirez31mo ago

Goldendale Observatory's your best bet, trust me.

spencera771mo ago

Oh, for sure, kim_ramirez3 is spot on about Goldendale. I went there last summer and it was amazing, the views were just incredible. Kind of reminds me of how hard it is to find good spots for stargazing these days with all the light pollution, you know? But yeah, that place is really special, they have those big telescopes and the staff knows their stuff. Honestly, if anyone's looking for a great night sky experience, that's the place to go.

wyatt1351mo ago

Visited Goldendale a couple years back and totally get what you mean. Saw Saturn's rings through their main telescope, which was just unreal. The staff guy spent like twenty minutes showing us how to spot nebulas with the smaller scopes. It's crazy how dark it gets out there, no city glow messing things up. That trip actually got me into buying a cheap pair of binoculars for my backyard, though it's not the same. Yeah, that place is magic.

thomas_sanchez15d ago

Sounds like the city wanted to photobomb your shot, lmao.