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Friends of Goldendale Observatory is dedicated to upholding the purposes and efforts of the amateur astronomers and community college who built the Observatory's historic 24 inch telescope. It honors their intent that the telescope be located where a dark night sky is valued and protected from the damaging effects of light pollution in order to best serve the the public, educators and students, amateur astronomers, and future generations wanting to experience the inspiring beauty of our night sky natural heritage.
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MASON TRINCA/Yakima Herald-Republic
Light pollution from Goldendale as seen at the Observatory
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The reality of 40 years worth of unrestrained light pollution - visible as the illumination of the south side of the Goldendale Observatory on a clear moonless night - coming directly from the City of Goldendale and surrounding Klickitat County.
Satellite measurements of light pollution
Downtown Goldendale: Klickitat Co. Courthouse with prohibited lighting
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Goldendale Observatory State Park alters the night sky in photo
“with tungsten white balance.”
“with tungsten white balance.”
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"Tungsten white balance” refers to a photo process to correct for “warm” lighting and renders a bluer “daylight” color to photos taken indoors with incandescent (tungsten filament) lighting. Note how blue the night sky appears in Observatory Administrator Troy Carpenter’s online published photograph (upper picture). This manipulation appears intended to convey to the public the Observatory’s southern sky quality by changing the appearance of the amount of light pollution from Goldendale and surrounding Klickitat County. Carpenter also submitted false and misleading documentation to the International Dark-Sky Association, while at the same time failing to support dark sky education or advocating for night sky conservation – torpedoing the highly coveted International Dark Sky Park status of the Goldendale Observatory.
Using a similar technique for correcting color balance, a more realistic portrayal of the night sky - and light pollution - can be reestablished for the photo and the appearance of the night sky (bottom). Note the sky is a more neutral grey-black, not bright blue, the pink glow of ionized Hydrogen gas in the Milky Way has been restored, and the aircraft warning lights on distant wind turbines are corrected to being their real orange-red color instead of pink. |
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Decades of dereliction of lighting code promotion, education, and enforcement - prohibited lighting is frequently found even on city and county properties - demonstrates how Goldendale and Klickitat County have ignored protecting the night sky of the public's Observatory. The International Dark-Sky Association noted the apparent lack of support for night sky conservation, which contributed to the loss of the Observatory’s prestigious International Dark Sky Park designation - the first in the world Dark Sky Place ever to be decertified. Actions speak louder than words. Despite promoting the Goldendale Observatory for tourism related economic development, Goldendale and Klickitat County have shown by their inaction they don't sincerely care about astronomy, the Observatory's purpose, or the majestic beauty of the Observatory's star-filled night sky. Until this situation changes for the better, taxpayers, students, educators, amateur astronomers, and people coming from around the world, should seriously consider whether they wish to patronize and support local the businesses whose only desire is to exploit the Observatory as a "marketing tool" for "economic and commercial gain," yet believe they have no obligation to protect its essential dark night sky quality.
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