28-01-2025
Utah is the heart of a booming night-sky tourism industry
Night-sky tourism, or "noctourism," is set to be a major travel driver this coming year, predicts.
Why it matters: Utah has already been pushing stargazing hard, with a fast-spreading campaign to get parks, towns and resorts certified as " International Dark Sky Places."
There are 29 in the state — the highest concentration in the world, per the state tourism office, and 155 listed nationally.
The big picture: The trend could bring travelers — and their dollars — to more remote locales with better night skies.
Zoom in: All five of Utah's national parks are certified Dark Sky places, as are many state parks, national monuments and towns like Moab, Helper and Torrey.
Between the lines: A lot of the best stargazing destinations don't advertise themselves. Utah has plenty of remote country roads where you can simply pull over, step outside and look up.
How it works: You can use Dark Site Finder's online map to help you plan some noctourism of your own.
Try an app like Sky Guide to ID the planets and stars you're seeing. Just keep the brightness low to avoid ruining your night vision.
Use flashlights or headlamps with red LEDs, for the same reason.
The intrigue: With the sun now in "solar maximum," it's also prime time for aurora-hunting in northern-latitude locales like Alaska, Iceland and the Nordic countries.
Yes, but: Some astronomers and stargazers are worried that the ever-increasing amount of satellites and space junk in low Earth orbit could mar our views of the night sky — perhaps forever.
