Night Sky Tourist Blog
2026 STARGAZING GUIDE
Mercury: How to See the Elusive Planet
These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the naked eye. The photo was enhanced with color to show chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences of its surface. Mercury is notoriously tricky to spot. It stays close to the horizon and never rises...
6 Winter Constellations to Spice Up a Cold Night
Cold weather may tempt you to stay indoors during the winter months, but the winter constellations are some of the best for interesting objects and ancient stories. Whether you have binoculars, a telescope, or just the naked eye, here are the brightest constellations...
2026 Stargazing Gift Guide
Do you find yourself overwhelmed with Wish Lists filled with row after row of more stuff? I feel it! How about this year, you give them the gift of the night sky? I’ve carefully curated a list that inspires awe and wonder and encourages recipients to engage...
Sonoran Desert’s June Saguaro Moon
In the days leading up to the June Full Moon, social media feeds abound with headlines about the coming Strawberry Moon. This name, along with all the others throughout the year, is a relic from colonial times when people started borrowing ideas from the indigenous...
Beyond the Big Dipper: 5 Easy-to-Find Summer Constellations
The Summer night sky is filled with bright, distinctive constellations that are fun to find, and some of them lead to other discoveries if you know where to find them. It’s also Milky Way season. If you live in or travel to places with sufficiently dark skies, you can...
Fountain Hills, Arizona: Stargazing Destination
I had the opportunity to promote the town where I live, Fountain Hills, Arizona, as a great stargazing destination on the edge of Phoenix. Check it out.You Might Also LikeEpisode 92: Fountain Hills, AZ In this podcast episode, I introduce you to the people and...
Reach for the Stars: 8 Essential Astrotourism Tips
What makes astrotourism such a fast-growing travel trend right now? When more than 90 percent of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way from where they live, they start wondering what a pristine night sky looks like. Stargazing experiences open a world of awe,...
Arc to Arcturus, Then Speed on to Spica: Spring Star Hopping
The spring night sky offers a perfect opportunity to learn one of the most useful navigation techniques in naked-eye astronomy: star hopping. One of the most famous star hops helps you find two of spring's brightest stars – Arcturus and Spica. This simple technique...
From Backyard to Deep Space: How to Select the Perfect First Telescope
Looking through a telescope for the first time is a revelation. It’s one thing to look at photos taken by a professional astrophotographer or the Hubble Telescope. It’s something else entirely to see a close-up of a celestial object with your own eye and the aid of a...
Orion Across 3 Cultures: One Sky, Many Stories
Few constellations command our attention like Orion, dominating the winter sky with its brilliant stars and distinctive pattern. While we might recognize it as the mighty hunter from Greek mythology, these same stars tell entirely different stories around the world....
2025 Dark Sky Festivals and Star Parties
Image: Rocky Mountain Star Stare The first time I heard about a Star Party, it sparked my curiosity. I didn't know what a Star Party was, but it sounded wonderful. I quickly discovered the magic. Star Parties are more than just astronomical events. They are gateways...
Cosmic Adventures Through Arizona’s Public Observatories
Image credit: Kitt Peak National Observatory The first time I saw Jupiter through a professional telescope at Lowell Observatory, I couldn't pull myself away from the eyepiece. What I saw was more than a bright dot floating in the darkness. I saw a living world, its...
2025 Meteor Showers: Your Guide to Nature’s Cosmic Fireworks
You’re spending a quiet night with family or friends under a starry night sky, and suddenly - a streak of light blazes across the sky. Everyone has the same reaction when they see a shooting star. There's a sharp inhale followed by a long, verbal "Oooooohhh." What...
The 2025 Moon Guide: Seasons, Stories and Celebrations
Stargazing gets a lot of attention, while the moon often takes a backseat. And when the Full Moon comes out, stargazers talk about how the moon is ruining their ability to see the stars. But moon viewing is an incredible experience in its own right. The...
Night Sky Tourist’s Curated Gift Guide 2024
If you’re like many others, you feel like your gift list gets longer every year, and the items on people’s wish lists are getting bigger. I’ve been thinking about how to give the gift of nature to family and friends this year, inspiring them to find moments of awe....
iPhone Astrophotography Tips
We’ve all had the disappointing experience of pulling out our iPhone to take a picture of a gorgeous Full Moon, only for it to look like an oversaturated blob in the sky. We try again the next time we see a beautiful night sky, and it never improves. iPhone...
4 Ways the Night Sky Changed Me
When I set out to learn the constellations in my early 40s, I had no idea that it would take me on a journey that would change my whole world. What began as a quest to teach my kids how to identify more than the moon and Big Dipper ended up luring me into a deep and...
Curate Your Stargazing Kit
When you have a packed and ready stargazing kit, you're more likely to take advantage of spontaneous urges to spend time under the stars. I love having mine prepared so I can throw it in the car for overnight trips out of town, a nighttime walk around the...
Explore Your Nocturnal Bioregion
Tell me about your bioregion. What is that, you ask? According to OneEarth.org, it’s “any geographical area defined not by political boundaries but by ecological systems.” If you’ve lived in the same place for a long time or you spend a lot of time outdoors, you might...
13 Summer Star Parties and Festivals
There is so much to love about summer, and warmer nights for stargazing are up there with swimming, camping, and road trips for me. It’s also Milky Way season when we can look directly toward our galactic core. Most people can’t see the Milky Way from where they live,...