Friends of Gold endale Observatory

P.O. Box 899

Goldendale, WA 98620
friendsofgosp@gmail.com
http://www.goldendaleobservatory.comdale, WA
98620

friendsofgosp@gmail.com

JUNE 2016
WHATS HAPPENING
June 6 City Council Meeting 7:00 pm - President Bob
Yoesle had the opportunity to meet recently with Goldendale
Mayor Mike Canon to discuss the need for a revised and
updated lighting ordinance to better protect the dark skies of
the Goldendale Observatory. The outdated City and County
lighting ordinances are vague, and dont use industry
language, best practices, or lighting levels. Moreover, they
are not well publicized, and have no approval process and
minimal enforcement provisions. The result is that after almost 30 years on the books, they
have been completely ineffective.
Mayor Canon indicated his sincere desire to see that a better ordinance is developed and
implemented, and that this would be the task of the Ordinance Committee after the June 6th
City Council meeting. Please come to City Hall at 7 pm on Monday, June 6th to show your
support for the Mayor and the community interest in supporting preservation and enhancement
of the Dark Skys for the Goldendale Observatory.
June 11 FoGO Annual Meeting For members and all those interested, our meeting will
start at noon on Saturday, June 11th, at the Observatory. Admission is free. Check out
http://www.goldendaleobservatory.com/whats-up.html for more details.
June 25 - Solar Saturday
10:00 am 4:00 pm
Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, 5000 Discovery Drive, The Dalles, OR 97058
(541) 296-8600 https://www.gorgediscovery.org/event/solar-saturday/
FoGO will present a solar viewing FREE to the public the last Saturday of the month, weather
permitting, discussing the sun and stars, their size, distance and answer questions. This fun
family event will be held outside the museum. Admission still applies for visitors who wish to see
the exhibits. The turnout for April and June were phenomenal! Many enjoyed seeing the suns
incredible features. Articles appeared in both The Dalles Chronicle and Hood River Times,
written by Jim Drake.
http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/news/2016/may/07/going-solar-close-view-sun/
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Gorge Night Sky Plans are now underway for a Gorge Night Sky Symposium to be held
August 18 and 19 at the Goldendale Observatory and the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center on
how to preserve our rural dark sky and increase energy efficiency. The Symposium is being
funded through a Google Grant and coordinated through the Mid-Columbia Economic
Development District, with the participation of many agencies and lighting providers, and
includes representation from FoGO, the Goldendale Chamber of Commerce, and the
International
Dark-Sky
Association.
More
information
can
be
found
at:
http://mcedd.org/services/GorgeNightSky.htm
Right Now! We have beautiful glow-in-the-dark Goldendale Observatory t-shirts for sale on line
at http://www.goldendaleobservatory.com/store.html. The shirts are $22.00 which includes tax
and shipping, or stop by the Observatory and purchase your shirt for $20.00 including tax.
Proceeds from the sale of shirts will be used for continued education programs and promoting
special Observatory projects.
Be sure to visit the FoGO website frequently:
http://www.goldendaleobservatory.com/whatsup.html There are some great night sky
activities coming up this summer, with special
hours to give you the best viewing possible. If
you are traveling and need accommodations
you will find all the information on Goldendale
Chamber of Commerce website
http://www.goldendalechamber.org/stay.html.
Have questionsneed help? Feel free to send
an e-mail to: friendsofgosp@gmail.com
2017 Total Solar Eclipse The Astronomical Event of the Decade! Check out the new page
on our website for news about this rare and not-to-be-missed opportunity.
http://www.goldendaleobservatory.com/2017-eclipse.html

INFORMATION & MEMBERSHIP

A Good Neighbor Lighting brochure,
approved by the International Dark Sky
Association, was sent out to members.
To view or print, click here:
http://darksky.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/05/FOGOBROCHURE-FINAL.pdf
MEMBERSHIP - Friends of Goldendale Observatory (FoGO) members: THANK YOU
YOU ARE APPRECIATED! Not yet a member? If you are interested in joining the Friends of
Goldendale Observatory, plan to attend the annual meeting, starting at noon on Saturday, June
11, at the Observatory. Check out our website for details.
http://www.goldendaleobservatory.com/donate.html
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WHATS IN THE SKY

Jim White, Vice President

Welcome to June, the month that ushers in summer! This year the summer solstice will occur
on June 20, at about 3:30 in the afternoon. At that time, Sun will be as far as it gets into our
northern sky, and our northern hemisphere will be as tilted as it gets toward the Sun. That
means long days, and sunlight that shines more directly on us, giving us warm temperatures. A
surprising number of people think summers are warm because we are closer to the Sun, but it is
the tilt of our rotational axis that is the cause. In fact, we are at our closest to the Sun in
January!
June will be a great month in which to view three bright planets in our sky. Jupiter, Mars, and
Saturn will all grace our evening skies. They will be the three brightest stars in the southern
sky.
Saturn will be at its closest approach for this year on June 2. On that day, the ringed planet will
be only about 839 million miles from Earth. The rings of Saturn are a magnificent sight in a
telescope, something not to miss. As I mentioned last month, Mars made its closest approach
in late May, about 48 million miles from us. Mars will appear distinctly reddish in the evening
sky. Through a telescope, it will appear as a reddish disk, and may show some hint of details if
sky conditions permit. Jupiter made its closest approach to Earth last March, but the solar
systems giant is big enough to still be impressive in a telescope. It is easy to see cloud bands
in Jupiters atmosphere, and its four largest moons are visible, orbiting the planet. The chance
to see these three planets is a great reason to visit the Goldendale Observatory in June. You
can also join me at the Trout Lake School soccer field on either Friday, June 10 or, Saturday,
June 25 to enjoy the views through one of my telescopes (email me at
jwhite.stargazer@gmail.com for details on that).
New Moon will occur on June 4, with full Moon on the 19 th of the month. On June 10, the firstquarter Moon will lie just to the right of Jupiter. On the 11 th, itll be to the right of Jupiter. On
June 12 and 13, the first-quarter Moon will be between Jupiter and Mars, and should make an
impressive sight - the planets and the Moon forming a roughly straight line in the sky.
A recognizable constellation that is now prominent in the evening sky is Corona Borealis, the
Northern Crown. To find it, face south and look up, almost straight overhead. The Crown will
be a little to the east of due south early in the month, and a bit to the west late in the month.
The bright star Arcturus lies to the right of the Crown. You can also use the Big Dipper to find it.
Orient yourself so that the dipper is upright (facing roughly southwest), and look to the left of
the dipper, about as far left as the dipper is wide. Look for a semi-circular arc of stars and
youve found it!
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..
Retirement A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EARLENE SULLIVAN, a tireless
supporter and dedicated FoGO Board member. Earlenes thoughtfulness and good
humor will be missed, and we look forward to her continued involvement when
circumstances allow.
We are looking for an enthusiastic person to fill Earlenes shoes as Treasurer. To apply, go to
our website at http://www.goldendaleobservatory.com/contact-friends.html

..
FoGO President Bob Yoesle has received a 2015
Dark Sky Defender Award from the International
DarkSky Association for his work helping the
Observatory and continued efforts working with the
City of Goldendale, Washington, and surrounding
Klickitat County on the long-term protection of the
Dark Sky Park.
If youd like to get more involved with
protecting dark skies, contact FoGO, and
be sure to visit www.darksky.org

FoGO is your organization We welcome

your comments and participation. Please email Patty
at friendsofgosp@gmail.com.
Looking forward to hearing from you!

Patty Powers, Newsletter Editor