Latest news with #RuskinHartley
CBC
21-06-2025
- Science
- CBC
Under attack: How humanity is losing the night sky
Losing the dark isn't just about the stars. It has dire consequences for human health as well as the natural world. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause By Nicole Mortillaro Jun. 21, 2025 Nestled atop Cerro Paranal, a 2,600-metre mountain in the Atacama desert in Chile, sits the Very Large Telescope. It's not really a single telescope, as the name suggests, but four giant eyes on the sky housed in silver metallic domes. The surrounding area is nothing but mountains and hills — and a few other telescopes. The nearest small town is 40 kilometres away. The air is still. It is rarely cloudy, and when it gets dark, the Milky Way, so dense with stars, casts shadows of the giant silver structures across the dusty landscape. 'It's majestic. And it's humbling,' said Ruskin Hartley, CEO and executive director of DarkSky International, a non-profit organization that advocates for dark skies. ADVERTISEMENT 'It gives you a real sense … of the scale of the natural world and the universe, and we're just a tiny part of it.' A night sky as pristine as this is rare and becoming rarer thanks to light pollution. But even if one were to get away from light pollution and stare up at the stars — which have guided humanity from its earliest beginnings, influencing science, art, faith and wonder — they would still be inundated with satellites invariably intruding on the view. And the loss of the night sky isn't just a disconnect from these past influences. It also has dire consequences for humans and wildlife alike. Roughly 20 kilometres from the Very Large Telescope (VLT), another far larger telescope is under construction: the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). It will house a 39-metre mirror that will be used to peer deep into the cosmos and take images of distant planetary systems and potentially habitable planets, among other things. This region of Chile is one of the darkest, most still places on Earth. It's the very reason why the European Southern Observatory (ESO) chose the location to build its telescopes. But this pristine environment is under threat. Last December, AES Andes, a subsidiary of the U.S. energy company the AES Corporation, submitted an environmental impact assessment for a large industrial project. The 3,000-hectare energy megaproject would consist of ammonia and hydrogen production plants, along with a solar plant and a wind farm. In its construction phase, there would be thousands of people onsite. Once completed, there would be hundreds of people involved in its 24-hour-a-day operations, said Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo, ESO's head of the office for science. Basically, it would be similar to a small city. And small cities have lights. Lots of them. And it would be just 11 kilometres from the VLT and 20 kilometres from the ELT. That exquisite dark sky would become tainted with light pollution, brightening the sky and threatening the science operations of some of the most important telescopes in the world. 'It's going to be devastating,' said de Gregorio-Monsalvo. 'Basically, we will not be able to observe as a professional observatory anymore. I want to emphasize that we selected [this] place because of the condition of the atmosphere and of the darkness.' Closing the observatories would be no small consequence. The VLT has been contributing to astronomical discoveries since it began operations in 1998. It was the first telescope to take an image of an exoplanet in 2004 and helped confirm the existence of a black hole at the centre of our galaxy. The authors of the paper describing the discovery received a Nobel Prize in 2020. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause The AES environmental assessment report found that the industrial project would increase light pollution above the VLT by at least 35 per cent. And that would severely impact its ability to detect Earth-like exoplanets and distant galaxies or even the detection of minor asteroids that could be on a collision course with Earth. 'I am quite concerned,' de Gregorio-Monsalvo said. 'I think it's quite easy to protect these areas for doing astronomy because they are windows to the universe.' She does make it clear, however, that the ESO isn't opposed to the green energy project in and of itself. 'We really support these green energy projects." Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause But, she added: 'We know Chile is long enough … and [moving it] between 50 or 100 kilometres away would be enough for not impacting our observatories.' And she noted that more and more telescopes around the world face the threat of light pollution, mostly from nearby expanding towns and cities. But light pollution is not only threatening important scientific discoveries. It's also diminishing the human connection with the stars. Sky grief It's Aug. 14, 2003, shortly after 4 p.m., and Todd Carlson is lying on his sofa in Goodwood, Ont., about 60 kilometres northeast of Toronto, when the power goes out. At first, he doesn't think much of it. Maybe it's a local transformer issue. But then something occurs to him. What if this lasts into the night? 'Ten seconds later, it hit me: this could be good for the selfish astronomy guy,' he said. The sky was clear, the atmosphere was stable and the lights were out. It was an astronomer's dream. The power didn't come back any time soon. Instead, it was knocked out in parts of Ontario and the U.S. northeast and Midwest for hours. In some places, the blackout lasted two days. While cities like Toronto, New York and Cleveland were bogged down in traffic congestion and chaos, Carlson was in his element. A night of observing without light pollution? Could there be anything better? Then he had a thought. 'I should take a photo of this. I really should, because straight to the southwest was the Milky Way,' he said. So he did. And when the power came on the next day, he decided to take a photo of what it's like on any ordinary day, just for comparison. Those two photos became a rallying cry around the world of what we've lost: the stars and the wonder of the night sky. In 2023, the Smithsonian included them in its ' Lights Out: Recovering our Night Sky ' exhibit that runs until the end of December. Now, 22 years later, light pollution has become even worse. 'We have lost something that makes us human, something that makes us deeply human, that beautiful stew of being curious and holding awe and mystery and creativity and gratitude,' said Aparna Venkatesan, an astronomer in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of San Francisco. 'It's not just human. It's very humanizing.' The night sky has influenced humanity from its earliest beginnings. It helped us navigate; it was used for time-keeping and agricultural practices; it inspired wonder and curiosity; it roused writers and artists; and it created mythologies and religions. Mehrnoosh Tahani, an astrophysicist and a Banting Fellow at Stanford University in California, started the Open Cultural Astronomy Forum, which offers seminars on the subject. 'I was actually surprised when I started cultural astronomy … I was surprised how many people joined the seminars,' she said. 'I think teaching it is very important, not only in terms of diversifying the field of astronomy, but also trying to figure out how we got here, how we have the knowledge that we have today.' She said the seminars have included astronomical lore from eastern Nigeria to Indigenous communities in Australia and Canada. And there's evidence that planispheres — maps of the constellations — were being used as far back as 5,000 years ago by the Sumerians. Humans come from the stars. We are literally made of ' star stuff,' as the late American astronomer and planetary scientist Carl Sagan said. Yet, the Milky Way — with its billions and billions of stars — is invisible to most of humanity. In fact, a 2016 study found that the Milky Way is hidden from more than 80 per cent of the world and 99 per cent of North Americans. With this in mind, Venkatesan and astronomer John Barentine wrote a letter to Science magazine in 2023 that appeared in its special edition titled: 'Losing the Darkness.' In it, the pair suggested the term 'noctalgia' to convey 'sky grief' or the loss of the night sky. 'This represents far more than mere loss of environment: we are witnessing loss of heritage, place-based language, identity, storytelling, millennia-old sky traditions and our ability to conduct traditional practices grounded in the ecological integrity of what we call home,' they wrote. But there's also more to it than that. Our bodies evolved in a day/night cycle, called the circadian rhythm. And there's increasing evidence that disrupting that rhythm has consequences. 'More and more we're learning that day/night — that light/dark cycle — is a very fundamental part of the ecology of the world, and [has] fundamental impacts on our life and on our health,' Hartley said. Light pollution Sky brightness Very bright Very dark Sudbury Sudbury Quebec City Quebec City Ottawa Ottawa Montreal Montreal Barrie Barrie Toronto Toronto Buffalo Buffalo Boston Boston Windsor Windsor Cleveland Cleveland New York New York Pittsburg Pittsburgh 100 km Source: (CBC) He also noted that there have been numerous studies showing a higher incidence of many diseases, such as cancer, in those who have experienced artificial light at night (ALAN), such as shift workers. Light pollution also has effects on birds, causing them to crash into buildings, as well as insects, which are facing declines. To be clear, it's not that DarkSky is advocating for no lighting. They want responsible lighting, where light faces down and isn't pouring out and upwards, causing sky glow, or the brightening of the night sky. 'You walk around a city at night and you will see countless unshielded lights, particularly wall packs. They are not making anyone safer. They are the anathema, antithesis, of safety,' Hartley said. 'It's also very common to overlight spaces … to a factor of five or 10. Well, that's pure waste.' Ersatz stars The grassy field is full of tents, RVs, cars and pickup trucks. But more importantly, it's filled with telescopes both large and small as far as the eye can see. This is Starfest, an annual star party for amateur astronomers that is run every August by the North York Astronomical Association in Toronto. Its location has been the same since 1982: in Ayton, Ont., roughly 140 kilometres northwest of Toronto. For some of the 600-plus attendees, this is the one time of year when they escape the light-polluted skies of their homes and camp beneath the Milky Way that stretches overhead. The sun set some time ago, but it's still not dark yet. People are busily assembling their telescopes or checking on their telescope set-ups, some chatting with one another, others silently checking cords and cameras attached to their telescopes, ready to photograph distant galaxies, nebulas or star clusters. Suddenly, a disembodied voice cries out and all eyes are on the sky to the southwest. There, a dozen or so ghostly lights cross the sky, moving from west to east. Everyone here knows exactly what they're looking at. There are no claims of UFOs here. They're looking at a Starlink train of satellites. After about a minute, the strange lights disappear as they enter Earth's shadow. Grumbles about 'stupid' satellites can be heard. Currently, there are more than 11,000 operational satellites in orbit. Of those, more than 6,700 belong to SpaceX's Starlink. But that number changes regularly, with two launches a week putting up dozens more. These groupings of satellites are called constellations, and they're becoming problematic for astronomers. Your browser does not support the video tag. Pause The goal of Starlink is to provide satellite internet capabilities to practically everyone on the planet, no matter how remote the location. In order to achieve that goal, the company requires many satellites for coverage. At one point, it said that it wants to create a 'megaconstellation' of 42,000. When the first Starlinks were launched in May 2019, the astronomical community took notice — quickly. It appeared that no one had actually considered how bright these objects would be in the night sky, particularly in the days before they are raised into their final orbits. The Starlink trains were interfering with professional observatories that now had to deal with streaks of light going through their data. It's not that these lines couldn't be removed, but the community realized that there were going to be thousands of these satellites disrupting their research. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) stepped in and created the Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS). SpaceX worked with them 'almost from Day 1,' said astronomer and CPS co-director Connie Walker, and it continues to do so, trying to mitigate the reflectivity of its satellites. The company tried a visor and, on two occasions, different paint. While the latest change in paint has dimmed them slightly, newer satellites are bigger, so they are still reflecting a similar amount of light. 'These constellations, they were designed for internet access, and that's a viable thing that is needed around the world,' said Walker. Starlink visualization by Will DePue, 'But it can still obstruct our astronomical observations by creating these bright streaks on images and also interfering with radio telescopes.' But it's not just SpaceX that wants to launch these constellations. There are far more planned by other players, including Amazon's Kuiper constellation (with plans for 3,200), OneWeb (planned 632), and China with a planned 14,000. 'My stomach just drops when I see the satellites,' said Samantha Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at the University of Regina who keeps a close eye on satellites and their orbits. 'It absolutely ruins any enjoyment of the night sky for me.' She noted that from her farm in rural Saskatchewan, she can see dozens of satellites pass overhead at any given time. And that's before the tens of thousands that are planned. 'There's no way we can have that many satellites up there,' she said. 'We will have collisions way before all these companies launch.' The future So, how do you protect a night sky that has already disappeared? Hartley said that when LED lighting came in, cities began to install it as a way of saving money. But LEDs are brighter, and because they're cheaper, cities may be more inclined to put more lighting in areas. But cities — and individuals — can make changes. 'The city of Tucson is a great example. When they did retrofit their street lights here in town, from the start, they decided that they wanted to have their energy savings, and they wanted to limit skyglow,' Hartley said. The city invested in energy-efficient LEDs, with adaptive controls: from sunset to midnight the lights operate at 90 per cent and then, after midnight, the lights are reduced to 60 per cent. 'They wanted … to protect the major observatories around the region. And as a result, they were able to have massive energy savings. They're saving $3 million a year in energy every year, and they reduced sky glow by eight per cent.' And individuals can make wiser choices about the lighting they use around their homes, he added, including using lighting only when needed and having shielded light fixtures that prevent light from dispersing outwards and upwards. There needs to be a will to make the effort, Harley said. But skyglow and the loss of the Milky Way isn't on most people's radars. 'We can only value what we know, and if we don't know some things, how do we advocate?' Venkatesan said. 'It's kind of like pollution and other aspects, right? If we've never known quiet, a space without noise pollution, or we've never known clean water, it's hard to know what that feels like.' But that experience — sitting under a truly dark sky — can be transformative. 'I think going out under a natural dark sky and seeing the Milky Way, and seeing the cosmos and just letting that wash over you is the ultimate experience of longevity,' Hartley said. 'You're looking back into the deepest expanses of time, and … there's a sense of awe that changes people forever.' Though the Milky Way may be something that most of the world's population only sees in photographs, Venkatesan encourages people to travel to dark-sky locations, to sit beneath a sky awash in starlight, to experience what inspired our ancestors, that inspired tales and guided whole civilizations. 'Care about dark skies,' she said. 'Because it's part of being human.' Top video: David Cortner About the Author Related Stories Footer Links My Account Profile CBC Gem Newsletters Connect with CBC Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Mobile RSS Podcasts Contact CBC Submit Feedback Help Centre Audience Relations, CBC P.O. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6 Toll-free (Canada only): 1-866-306-4636 TTY/Teletype writer: 1-866-220-6045 About CBC Corporate Info Sitemap Reuse & Permission Terms of Use Privacy Jobs Our Unions Independent Producers Political Ads Registry AdChoices Services Ombudsman Public Appearances Commercial Services CBC Shop Doing Business with Us Renting Facilities Accessibility It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem. About CBC Accessibility Accessibility Feedback © 2025 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved. Visitez
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
These are the best stargazing sites in North America
Travelers are increasingly lifting their eyes to nighttime skies in search of impressive celestial phenomena and, perhaps, more. 'Looking up at the night sky is sort of what makes us human,' says Ruskin Hartley, the executive director of DarkSky International, a nonprofit group based in Tucson, Arizona. 'We have done it for millennia. Every single culture has told their first stories in the stars overhead, and they found meaning in the stars. Today, the vast majority of people are robbed of that.' On a clear night last November, I spent over two hours in a dome atop nearly 7,000-foot-tall Kitt Peak, an hour outside of Tucson, peering through one of their 20-plus telescopes. The moonless night along with the high and dry climate enabled our guide to share bright and clear highlights, including the Andromeda galaxy, the ringed planet Saturn with several of its moons, and a globular cluster. Outside the dome, we simply marveled at the stunning clarity of our galaxy home, the Milky Way. In the United States, 99 percent of us live in areas impacted by artificial light pollution. While dark skies are essential for many nocturnal creatures and ecosystems, recent studies have also touted the health benefits of darkness for humans. To help preserve and better connect us with this at-risk natural resource, DarkSky International has designated 155 dark sky places across the United States, six in Canada, and two in Mexico for stellar stargazing and efforts to preserve darkness. Among the five categories of dark sky certification, sanctuaries meet the most stringent requirements, says Amber Harrison, DarkSky Places program manager, and many are in the western part of the continent in less populated areas. Designated in 2024, the world's largest international sanctuary—half the size of New Jersey—is in the high desert of the Oregon Outback. This 2.5-million-acre sanctuary includes broad and flat basins, mountain ranges with elevations from 4,700 to 8,000 feet, and alkali lakes, says Dawn Nilson, a DarkSky delegate who consulted on the process. 'With little or no light pollution, you see these celestial objects against an inky black, smooth canvas,' says Nilson. 'What's particularly special about the Outback is you get to see all those stars reflected on flat, calm, alkali lakes.' Nilson usually doesn't take her telescope along because there's no need. 'With your naked eye, you can see the many colors of the stars and star-making factories, like the Orion Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula.' In this pristine darkness, you might even spy your shadow cast by starlight. (9 must-see night sky events to look forward to in 2025) Astro adventurers should be experienced 'remote travelers,' cautions Nilson, because there may be no cell service or facilities nearby. 'Always bring more layers for warmth than you think are necessary,' she advises. Outfitters, such as Bend's Wanderlust Tours, offer guided excursions, and Rose City Astronomers (partnered with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) hosts star parties. Oregon Astronomy will team you with telescopes and a NASA ambassador. Other U.S. sanctuaries include Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Maine's Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, the only one east of the Mississippi. In the southwest, the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve spreads 15,000 square miles across southwestern Texas and Mexico and is the largest Dark Sky reserve. You'll find a constellation of guided options, from public telescope viewing at the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin to ranger-led night walks in Big Bend National Park to starry nights with DarkSky Texas. On any dark sky-focused adventures, we all carry 'a superpower,' says Nilson: The human capacity for night vision. However, that scotopic, or low-level light vision, takes at least 30 minutes to activate fully and can be negated by a white flashlight or a glance at an illuminated screen. Seasoned stargazers recommend using red-light flashlights and scheduling your excursion during the new moon phase for optimal darkness. (A practical guide to stargazing) With 28 certified dark sky communities and parks, Utah has the highest concentration of certified skygazing options in North America. That includes Rainbow Bridge National Monument, one of the world's largest natural bridges and also a sanctuary. The catch: Getting there requires a two-hour boat ride on Lake Powell followed by a one-hour hike. The site is considered sacred by many indigenous cultures, including the Pueblo of Zuni and the Hopi Tribe. Straddling the Canadian border, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the first binational international Dark Sky Park and includes Montana's Glacier National Park and Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park. Known for its mountainous scenery and rich biodiversity, the area is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, and both parks are UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. Dark Sky Guides in Waterton Lakes will maximize your viewing, and you can join Glacier's summertime ranger-led astronomy programs. In Quebec's Eastern Townships, guided astronomy activities abound at Parc National du Mont Mégantic, including an aurora borealis show in the AstroLab museum and guided stargazing with telescopes. (Activities are in French.) To achieve reserve status, local municipalities replaced 2,500 light fixtures and reduced local light pollution by 25 percent. In the park, you can hike to three mountain summits and explore diverse forest ecosystems. In Alberta, Jasper National Park is designated a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, one of 17 in the country. The town is actually within the preserve's limits. Every October the Jasper Dark Sky Festival takes place, and features a planetarium and telescope viewing, Indigenous music and storytelling, and guided night hikes. Lately, both urban and rural areas are darkening their skies to boost astrotourism. New Brunswick offers 'easy access to dark skies,' says Stéphane Picard of Cliff Valley Astronomy. 'Even in our cities, you're no more than 15 minutes away from a very dark sky.' The province has three dark-sky preserves designated by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, including Fundy National Park, known for the highest tides in the world. Other parks and towns are applying for designations to create a coastal stargazing corridor. 'When you're looking towards the Bay of Fundy from the New Brunswick coast, you're facing the southern half of the sky which is where mostly everything arises,' says Picard. 'We call that the rising tides and rising stars region.' The province hosts star parties with telescopes throughout the year. Several jurisdictions have designed stargazing trails, including Tucson's Astro Trail with 11 dark sky experiences and Montana's Trail to the Stars with 45 recommended sites. With 12 Dark Sky Parks and another dozen working toward certification, Colorado has a self-guided 'Experience the Night' itinerary, chock full of daytime activities and night-gazing sites, including Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Mexico's first urban night sky place, Joya-La Barreta Ecological Park, between Querétaro and San Miguel de Allende, focuses on educating the public about the value of darkness. (Why Tucson is one of the best places in the world to see the night sky) East Coast residents seeking closer options can head to Pennsylvania's Cherry Springs State Park, which is within the larger Susquehannock State Forest and has laser-guided night sky tours. West Virginia's Watoga State Park's name derives from the Cherokee name for 'starry waters,' and travelers may spy abundant constellations here. As stargazing gains in popularity, DarkSky International has developed its principles of responsible astrotourism, which emphasizes respect for local cultures and environmental health, along with sustainable growth. Hartley hopes that immersive dark sky experiences will inspire people to 'make some simple steps in and around your house and your neighborhood and your city to reclaim a little natural darkness.' (Big Sky, brighter stars: Why Montana is 2025's ultimate stargazing destination) Amy Brecount White is a Virginia-based writer with work seen in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, National Parks Traveler, Sierra Magazine, and more. She focuses on travel, particularly immersive outdoor adventures and moments full of wonder. See more at -
National Geographic
28-05-2025
- National Geographic
These are the best stargazing sites in North America
Travelers are increasingly lifting their eyes to nighttime skies in search of impressive celestial phenomena and, perhaps, more. 'Looking up at the night sky is sort of what makes us human,' says Ruskin Hartley, the executive director of DarkSky International, a nonprofit group based in Tucson, Arizona. 'We have done it for millennia. Every single culture has told their first stories in the stars overhead, and they found meaning in the stars. Today, the vast majority of people are robbed of that.' On a clear night last November, I spent over two hours in a dome atop nearly 7,000-foot-tall Kitt Peak, an hour outside of Tucson, peering through one of their 20-plus telescopes. The moonless night along with the high and dry climate enabled our guide to share bright and clear highlights, including the Andromeda galaxy, the ringed planet Saturn with several of its moons, and a globular cluster. Outside the dome, we simply marveled at the stunning clarity of our galaxy home, the Milky Way. In the United States, 99 percent of us live in areas impacted by artificial light pollution. While dark skies are essential for many nocturnal creatures and ecosystems, recent studies have also touted the health benefits of darkness for humans. To help preserve and better connect us with this at-risk natural resource, DarkSky International has designated 155 dark sky places across the United States, six in Canada, and two in Mexico for stellar stargazing and efforts to preserve darkness. The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the first binational international Dark Sky Park. Photograph by Alan Dyer, VWPics/Alamy Stock Photo In search of the darkest sanctuaries Among the five categories of dark sky certification, sanctuaries meet the most stringent requirements, says Amber Harrison, DarkSky Places program manager, and many are in the western part of the continent in less populated areas. Designated in 2024, the world's largest international sanctuary—half the size of New Jersey—is in the high desert of the Oregon Outback. This 2.5-million-acre sanctuary includes broad and flat basins, mountain ranges with elevations from 4,700 to 8,000 feet, and alkali lakes, says Dawn Nilson, a DarkSky delegate who consulted on the process. 'With little or no light pollution, you see these celestial objects against an inky black, smooth canvas,' says Nilson. 'What's particularly special about the Outback is you get to see all those stars reflected on flat, calm, alkali lakes.' Nilson usually doesn't take her telescope along because there's no need. 'With your naked eye, you can see the many colors of the stars and star-making factories, like the Orion Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula.' In this pristine darkness, you might even spy your shadow cast by starlight. (9 must-see night sky events to look forward to in 2025) Astro adventurers should be experienced 'remote travelers,' cautions Nilson, because there may be no cell service or facilities nearby. 'Always bring more layers for warmth than you think are necessary,' she advises. Outfitters, such as Bend's Wanderlust Tours, offer guided excursions, and Rose City Astronomers (partnered with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) hosts star parties. Oregon Astronomy will team you with telescopes and a NASA ambassador. Other U.S. sanctuaries include Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Maine's Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, the only one east of the Mississippi. Rainbow Bridge National Monument is one of Utah's 28 certified dark sky communities and parks. Photograph by Ralph Ehoff, Getty Images Southwest stargazing options In the southwest, the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve spreads 15,000 square miles across southwestern Texas and Mexico and is the largest Dark Sky reserve. You'll find a constellation of guided options, from public telescope viewing at the McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin to ranger-led night walks in Big Bend National Park to starry nights with DarkSky Texas. On any dark sky-focused adventures, we all carry 'a superpower,' says Nilson: The human capacity for night vision. However, that scotopic, or low-level light vision, takes at least 30 minutes to activate fully and can be negated by a white flashlight or a glance at an illuminated screen. Seasoned stargazers recommend using red-light flashlights and scheduling your excursion during the new moon phase for optimal darkness. (A practical guide to stargazing) With 28 certified dark sky communities and parks, Utah has the highest concentration of certified skygazing options in North America. That includes Rainbow Bridge National Monument, one of the world's largest natural bridges and also a sanctuary. The catch: Getting there requires a two-hour boat ride on Lake Powell followed by a one-hour hike. The site is considered sacred by many indigenous cultures, including the Pueblo of Zuni and the Hopi Tribe. The Pleiades star cluster and the other stars of Taurus rising above Mount Kerkeslin in Jasper National Park. Composite Photograph by Alan Dyer, VWPics/Redux Look to northern skies Straddling the Canadian border, the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the first binational international Dark Sky Park and includes Montana's Glacier National Park and Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park. Known for its mountainous scenery and rich biodiversity, the area is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, and both parks are UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. Dark Sky Guides in Waterton Lakes will maximize your viewing, and you can join Glacier's summertime ranger-led astronomy programs. In Quebec's Eastern Townships, guided astronomy activities abound at Parc National du Mont Mégantic, including an aurora borealis show in the AstroLab museum and guided stargazing with telescopes. (Activities are in French.) To achieve reserve status, local municipalities replaced 2,500 light fixtures and reduced local light pollution by 25 percent. In the park, you can hike to three mountain summits and explore diverse forest ecosystems. In Alberta, Jasper National Park is designated a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, one of 17 in the country. The town is actually within the preserve's limits. Every October the Jasper Dark Sky Festival takes place, and features a planetarium and telescope viewing, Indigenous music and storytelling, and guided night hikes. The night sky viewing program at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Photograph by Greg Dale, Nat Geo Image Collection The Milky Way over the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Photograph by Babak Tafreshi, Nat Geo Image Collection More easily accessed starry skies Lately, both urban and rural areas are darkening their skies to boost astrotourism. New Brunswick offers 'easy access to dark skies,' says Stéphane Picard of Cliff Valley Astronomy. 'Even in our cities, you're no more than 15 minutes away from a very dark sky.' The province has three dark-sky preserves designated by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, including Fundy National Park, known for the highest tides in the world. Other parks and towns are applying for designations to create a coastal stargazing corridor. 'When you're looking towards the Bay of Fundy from the New Brunswick coast, you're facing the southern half of the sky which is where mostly everything arises,' says Picard. 'We call that the rising tides and rising stars region.' The province hosts star parties with telescopes throughout the year. Several jurisdictions have designed stargazing trails, including Tucson's Astro Trail with 11 dark sky experiences and Montana's Trail to the Stars with 45 recommended sites. With 12 Dark Sky Parks and another dozen working toward certification, Colorado has a self-guided 'Experience the Night' itinerary, chock full of daytime activities and night-gazing sites, including Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Mexico's first urban night sky place, Joya-La Barreta Ecological Park, between Querétaro and San Miguel de Allende, focuses on educating the public about the value of darkness. (Why Tucson is one of the best places in the world to see the night sky) East Coast residents seeking closer options can head to Pennsylvania's Cherry Springs State Park, which is within the larger Susquehannock State Forest and has laser-guided night sky tours. West Virginia's Watoga State Park's name derives from the Cherokee name for 'starry waters,' and travelers may spy abundant constellations here. As stargazing gains in popularity, DarkSky International has developed its principles of responsible astrotourism, which emphasizes respect for local cultures and environmental health, along with sustainable growth. Hartley hopes that immersive dark sky experiences will inspire people to 'make some simple steps in and around your house and your neighborhood and your city to reclaim a little natural darkness.' (Big Sky, brighter stars: Why Montana is 2025's ultimate stargazing destination) Amy Brecount White is a Virginia-based writer with work seen in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, National Parks Traveler, Sierra Magazine, and more. She focuses on travel, particularly immersive outdoor adventures and moments full of wonder. See more at -
