Pine Mountain Observatory Webcam in Bend

While there may have been a slight lack of imagination in the naming of this scenic spot in Oregon, it totally lives up to that selection. There’s no shortage of pine trees or mountains on this, what initially appears to be a somewhat static, view being streamed from the Pine Mountain Observatory. 

Stare at the view for a while and although you won’t see any stellar activity, unless it’s dark and there’s a shooting star, you just might find yourself mesmerised by the clouds scudding by or find your eye being mysteriously drawn to the range of peaks in the distance. For relaxation and meditation purposes or basically just taking your mind off the humdrum of everyday life, this live feed gets a big thumbs.

The Pine Mountain Observatory is located at a height of just under two-thousand metres on the slopes of, yes, you guessed it, Pine Mountain, and is surrounded by the Deschutes National Forest. It’s far enough away from light-generating urbanisations like the nearest city, Bend, to be blessed with dark skies making it the perfect spot to observe the heavens. And that’s what they do there.

The observations made through the various telescopes of the facility are recorded and analysed by the University of Oregon Department of Physics. Spying on the night skies isn’t all they do at the observatory. During the summer months there are outdoor activities overseen by volunteer guides that include horse riding and hiking, which to the non-astronomical minded, sounds much more fun than keeping tabs on celestial bodies.