Kline-Dodge Dark Sky Site

Stellar ecosystem extinction. As scary as this may sound, the intrusion of human-made illumination has slowly dimmed the night sky and what we could see. The ecosystem of stars we see above is slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer, the wonders of the universe hidden behind a veil of man-made light.

But there is hope! The Denver Astronomical Society’s Kline-Dodge Dark Site provides dark skies for astronomers, once again allowing our light-gathering instruments to see the universe.

Many DAS members, including Ed Kline, George Jones, and Larry Brooks, worked for years to find and acquire a good dark observation site. Because of their perseverance, the Deer Trail Dark Sky Site was found and leased on the beautiful plains of Eastern Colorado, a mere 60-mile drive from Denver. The site was renamed the Edmund G. Kline Dark Site after a late society member who made many important contributions to the development of the dark site. The site was opened in the late 1990s.

DAS member Darrell Dodge undertook the Dark Site Committee Chair role in 2005 when the need to maintain and supervise the site became apparent. Over the next 15 years, he made countless trips to do everything from mowing the several acres to performing and supervising maintenance, from minor to major, and training and orienting members. He managed the Dark Site funds, negotiated the lease, and was responsible for all the major improvements and additions made during that period.

DAS members who use and enjoy the Dark Site do so because of Darrell Dodge’s tireless work. In tribute to Darrell, the Denver Astronomical Society Executive Board officially voted and resolved in October 2022 that, in recognition of his longstanding and outstanding stewardship of the DAS Dark Site, the facility be named the Kline-Dodge Dark Site. The change was made official on December 10, 2022, during a special presentation at the DAS Holiday Banquet.

The dark site is intended for DAS members and their guests. To use it, you must be a DAS member in good standing, a personal guest of a DAS member, or a registered participant in a scheduled DAS outreach event at the site led by a DAS member.

Dark Sky Weekends are normally scheduled once per month, on the weekend nearest the new moon. These are the recommended times for new members to receive site orientations because it is more likely that DAS members will be using the site (due to the long travel distance to the Dark Site, no orientations will be provided on nights when conditions are not conducive to observing).

In addition to pristine dark skies, and with the development of the property over the years, you can find the following amenities:

• Fourteen 10′ x 10′ concrete N-S aligned observing pads (three doubles and eight singles), each with a separate AC power pole with four grounded outlets, and six pads with footings for portable windscreens.
• Six portable windscreens designed to block prevailing southerly winds up to 30 mph.
• The Brooks Observatory is a one hundred-square-foot metal ExploraDome observatory building with a rotating 8-ft dome. It houses a 14-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope on a pier-mounted Celestron CGE mount with a Celestron NexStar control system (named after former DAS President Lawrence Brooks).
• Two cleared observing areas (south end) are available for research and imaging. These areas are registered with the International Astronomical Union (IAU) (see Observatory Code information below).
• A 17.5-inch DAS444 Dobsonian telescope.
• Just west of 8 new observing pads is a leveled area for large Dobsonian telescopes and vehicle parking.
• Warming hut with electric heat, red lighting, a microwave oven, a small table, and seating areas.
• Two designated handicapped parking spaces.
• One highly important vault toilet has nighttime red lighting.
• Gravel access road.