Pine Mountain Observatory is closed to visitors due to COVID-19.

SISTERS — A new grant from The Roundhouse Foundation of Sisters, is helping advance plans to outfit the University of Oregon’s Pine Mountain Observatory for remote learning. The upgrades will benefit Oregon families during the coronavirus pandemic — and for years to come, according to a press release.

Once renovations are complete, UO students and faculty members in Eugene will be able to make observations from Pine Mountain remotely. That includes viewing with the biggest telescope in the Pacific Northwest, as well as others at the observatory. Using the internet, staff members will bring lively (and live) astronomy events into Oregon homes and classrooms.

Located 34 miles southeast of Bend at 6,300 feet above sea level — an hour’s drive from the city capped by an eight-mile jaunt along a washboard dirt road—the observatory is far from civilization.

That’s both a blessing and a curse, said director Scott Fisher.

That lonely location represents some of the darkest remaining skies in the contiguous 48 states. So dark that Fisher’s working to get the area designated as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

“That’s part of what makes it so special,” Fisher said. “There might be 15, maybe 20, observatories like ours left in the country. And we are one of the best.”

Despite its remote site in the Deschutes National Forest, the facility brings stargazers too close together to practice social distancing. For the first time in decades, the observatory’s annual Memorial Day opening was canceled this year. Statewide restrictions related to COVID-19 mean the wildly popular Central Oregon destination can’t host visitors yet—at least not in person.

For the time being, the only two people headed to the top of Pine Mountain this summer will be Fisher and Alton Luken, head of observatory operations.

Thanks to the Roundhouse Foundation, the night skies will be accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. Long-time supporters of the observatory, the foundation contributed $30,000 in May to help implement the final stages of Fisher’s plans for remote control telescopes and observation over the internet.

“Education is a crucial part of the foundation’s mission,” said Kathy Deggendorfer, BS ’73 (English), of Sisters. “Pine Mountain Observatory is a resource for life-long learning and intergenerational education. It’s not just about astronomy. It’s about stimulating thought.

“The observatory is also an important presence for the university in Central Oregon. It is a great way to showcase what the UO has to offer for kids who are thinking about where they want to attend college.”