It’s hard to escape the glare from big cities and metro areas to see all the wonder that the skies have to offer, but several national parks are looking to serve as better windows into the cosmos.
Light pollution obscures the views of the stars and planets, making it more challenging for people to marvel at them in the dark skies. To celebrate such cosmic views, several national parks are organizing stargazing festivals or “star parties” that can help visitors enjoy the pristine glittering skies this summer and fall.
Several national parks have been designated so-called dark-sky sites, which means they have exceptionally high-quality night conditions to see the stars without the glare from nearby cities. The designation, given by the International Dark-Sky Association, a nonprofit group in Tucson, Ariz., is meant to support the protection of those optimal sky-viewing conditions.
Ann Congdon, president of Sky’s the Limit Observatory & Nature Center, which helps organize the Night Sky Festival at the Joshua Tree National Park in California, said: “It’s critical to make people aware that the dark night sky is a precious natural resource that can’t be taken for granted.”
Ms. Congdon added that “by reducing artificial light, we can continue to enjoy stargazing and the wonders of the night sky.”
The following are some stargazing events that several national parks are hosting this year. Most are free with park admission.
Grand Canyon National Park
The sprawling park in the northwest corner of Arizona launched its 33rd annual “Star Party” on Saturday, and it will run through this Saturday.
The event starts at sunset each day, but park officials recommend that the best viewing time is after 9 p.m.
There will be related events at the park’s north and south rims, including constellation tours; lectures by park rangers and NASA scientists; and photography workshops.
The park service is enticing potential visitors by telling them that they could see “an assortment of planets, double stars, star clusters, nebulae and distant galaxies by night.”
Bryce Canyon National Park
The park, known for its crimson-hued hoodoos in southern Utah, will host its annual astronomy festival from Wednesday to Saturday, featuring day and evening events.
Daytime activities, scheduled between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., will include activity tents and solar telescopes. Evening events will include stargazing sessions and access to a telescope-viewing site each night of the festival, from 10 p.m. to midnight.
The site was designated an International Dark-Sky Park in 2019.
Badlands National Park
The park in South Dakota has partnered with NASA’s South Dakota Space Grant Consortium to co-sponsor its 2023 Badlands Astronomy Festival from July 14 to July 16.
The festival will gather space science experts, amateur astronomers, educators and visitors for a variety of activities that will include a scale-model solar system tour and opportunities to view flares and sunspots with solar telescopes as well as special guest speakers and equipment demonstrations.
Because of the park’s remote location in a corner of the Great Plains, light pollution is not a prevalent issue, park officials said.
Shenandoah National Park
The park in Virginia will present its 2023 Night Sky Festival from Aug. 11 to Aug. 13.
In addition to stargazing, there will be discussions by park rangers and expert presentations on topics such as space weather, space travel and the future of space.
Great Basin National Park
The park in eastern Nevada, near the Utah border, will present its astronomy festival from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16. The park hasn’t announced its list of events, but officials said they would feature guest speakers, photo workshops and tours of the bulb-shaped Great Basin Observatory, which the park said is “the first ever research grade observatory in a U.S. national park.” There is no significant man-made light for 70 miles in all directions of the observatory, the Park Service said.
The festival will also include an “Art in the Dark” program which will allow visitors to paint in lowlight conditions and to experiment with how their eyes perceive color.
Joshua Tree National Park
The park, which sprawls over land where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet in Southern California, will host its Night Sky Festival on Oct. 13 and 14.
The festival will coincide with an annular solar eclipse that will span the skies from Oregon to Texas on Oct. 14. To view the eclipsed sun, park officials recommend using special-purpose solar filters.
Years ago, park rangers replaced all of the park’s outdoor lights with lighting that helps to preserve dark-sky conditions, according to the park.
The site was designated a dark-sky park in 2017.
