Seattle’s spring just might be off to a too-sunny start for locals. On Capitol Hill, turn to the moon.

Local resident Noah Anderson has found a way to to appreciate the beauty of the Seattle sky utilizing the extended night time hours of the Pacific Northwest to practice a challenging but rewarding city hobby: urban stargazing. A community of people who like to look up at the stars has formed that orbits around Capitol Hill’s park space. With days now getting longer, prime star viewing gets a little more challenging. But Anderson says stargazing is one of those rare activities that is a hobby anyone can access. The sky is communal and reminiscent of visiting a museum, he says.

“We can all speak sky.”

Anderson stumbled into stargazing when he and friends experimented with an old childhood “superscope,” Seeking guidance, he connected with the University of Washington astronomy department, which provided him with a professional telescope in need of repair. After refurbishing it with help from a Chicago repair shop, he tested it in Volunteer Park. Passersby expressed interest, leading to the formation of a thriving community of more than 600 members through word-of-mouth invitations and an email list. Meetings now occur regularly, and on dark nights, as the moon smiles down.

There’s no need to tell you how few stars people typically see in Seattle. Who can spot the planets and tell Venus from Sirius? It’s a public good that Anderson and others lug large telescopes to Volunteer Park.

In years past it was a few regulars and many passers-by who happened upon his array at the summit of Capitol Hill. Now, Anderson’s followers line up to see Mars in the round, the Pleiades, not just a smudge but single stars, the moon craters shadowed and finely etched, and, rarely, the red storm on Jupiter.

Anderson says he’s even grown comfortable enough with the community that when he leaves town, he can leave the scopes with his fellow stargazers.

Looking at the sky above Seattle has seasons, too. Urban stargazing, best done in the winter with longer viewing hours, can occur all year round.

“On clear nights past 10, we can observe Globular Clusters, dense balls of hundreds of thousands of stars, and Open Clusters, clusters of bright stars,” Anderson says. “Spring and summer reveal famous nebulae like the Ring, Eagle, and Omega Nebulae. By August, the faint Andromeda Galaxy becomes visible, adding to the celestial spectacle.”

Clear nights at Volunteer Park are few and far between, but that only adds to the special nature of this hobby.

Seeing the sky through fresh eyes has can also inspire veteran stargazers.

Anderson says the best way to describe the meetups are “smiley sensations.”

“Sometimes those of us who have looked hundreds of times see something new or something in a different light and I’d bet there is at least a little bit of awe even when looking at something I’ve seen dozens or hundreds of times,” he says.

As for those who want to get started looking up, Anderson says most of the planets are visible in the early morning in spring and summer and “we just might be able to see Venus from Volunteer Park in early August too.”

Anderson’s stargazing community has expanded its telescope collection, including a 3-inch refractor, a 12-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, a 4-inch refractor, a 6-inch Newtonian, a 10-inch Dobsonian, a 3.5-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain, and binoculars, allowing viewers to tap into the machinery side of art.

Local astrophotographer Andy Ermolli says he uses the events to capture the night sky on his Takahashi FSQ106. Astrophotography, surprisingly enough, is a thriving community despite the light pollution in Seattle. Groups like AstrophotographyWA and cloudynights.com provide easy access to the community and are useful for tips, tricks, locations and meetups.

If you feel too intimidated by a formal meetup, Anderson says urban stargazing is actually easier in Seattle than you’d think. You can catch glimpses of the stars from most local parks if you find some darkness and patiently scan the sky. He also recommends cloudynights.com and Stellarium — “free software that shows the sky and astronomical objects.”

To meet up with Anderson you can email to get notified on nights when you should head to Volunteer Park.

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.