A little earlierthis year, I saw something that I never believed I’d get to experience. I saw the northern lights. Not from somewhere exotic — but from my own front yard, at the house I grew up in, in rural northeast Texas.
That’s the feral beauty, the wildness of the world, that gave me my love of the outdoors many, many years ago, camping in the backyard of this very same house.
And it has to be the least labor-intensive way I’ve been a tourist in a while — because traveling to see the stars, the planets, and the other wonders of the heavens, that makes you an astrotourist.
It’s not the first time we’ve been witness to the wonder of the skies this year. And it looks like this year will be the year that astrotourism really blasts off. And it’s easy to see why.
Looking at the stars is something humans have done nearly as long as we’ve been around.It unites us.
Because, no matter how fractious our politics, our petty disagreements, our bullshit jobs, our inherent xenophobias— we all, no matter our circumstance of birth, our melanin levels, our friends, our paychecks, whether we’re born to dynasties, or; like me, were adopted and given a gift of both family and finding paths homeward -
We share those stars. And a fascination with them.
We watch the perseids rain from the sky like meteoric snow as they incinerate in the atmosphere — becoming part of the earth from far, far beyond humanity’s reach.
We’ve always been this way — have kept our awe of the cosmos for thousands upon thousands of years.
Eclipses were mentioned in Assyrian cuneiform tablets as early as 763 BCE and Han Dynasty documents since 90 BCE.
And its even passed into our language — we’ve been using cosmic metaphors for a very long time. Take the title of this piece: “sic itur ad astra.”
It means, “Thus, one goes to the stars,” written by the poet Virgil in the Aeneid somewhere between 30–19 BCE.
And it means something quite beautiful — and echoes the feeling of gazing up into the stars until we become lost in them: “This is the way to immortality.”
This year’s eclipse has gotten the most press — and we all share a love of the magnificent colors of the aurora borealis. But comets, meteor showers, blood moons, and even just finding the best spots to point out the constellations — those happen all year round.
There’s a name for traveling to see the stars, and all the night sky’s beauty — it’s called “astrotourism.”
But it also outdrew sports, music, and other entertainment events.
Not bad for something the Assyrians would’ve also been completely stoked about.
There’s been a growth of dark sky parks and reserves — places where light pollution is cut down to a minimum. Which doesn’t just make it easier to see. It helps people find a good place to watch it, without the event being affected by the lights of cities and homes.
And 2024 looks like it could be the start of something big. A big shift in where we travel — and why we do it.
Astrophysicist and Cal Berkeley professor Alex Filippenko, an astrophysicist and says the strength of this year’s northern and southern lights is because the sun is nearing a maximum in its roughly 11-year solar activity cycle, expected to peak in 2025.
Remember the Persids? It’s back this year — featuring a whopping 60 shooting stars per hour (save up those wishes, kids). That’s happening this August.
On September 17, Saturn will converge with the moon and do so again on October 14 and 15, November 11, and December 8.
And we’ll be able to see it without telescopes or special cameras. The convergence will be visible to the eye. But, if you want a special, up-close-and-personal peek at Saturn’s golds and icy rings and the moon’s silvery ethereal glow, you can always grab your binoculars or telescope.
So, space buckaroos — how do you go about having your own stellar adventures?
In response, travel companies are rocketing into astrotourism — giving you plenty of opportunity.
In 2021, Black Tomato launched a series of bespoke eclipse experiences, including adventures to Argentina and Patagonia and luxury private yacht trips in Antarctica. Wilderness Travel, a California-based adventure company, has offered expert-led eclipse trips for 20 years.
August’s Perseid meteor shower is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, as it always has been.
For prime views, head somewhere dark, clear, and far from light pollution and threats of wildfires. Popular places for stargazing and meteor watching are Colorado and California, but to avoid the crowds (and potentially ash-filled skies), consider lesser visited dark skies in Nebraska or South Carolina.
Auroras are much harder to plan for in advance says Filippenko, but nights around the new moon are better than bright full-moon nights.
The southern lights illuminate the skies over the southern tip portions of Tasmania, Australia and New Zealand. But some of the darkest skies won’t be spotted from land. Rather, they’ll be found far from light pollution, in the middle of the ocean. Consider a cruise that passes through northern regions like Greenland and the Canadian Arctic.
What about those dark sky parks? Glad you asked!
In late 2023, Arizona’s beautiful Saguaro National Parkearned certification as an Urban Night Sky Place, one of only nine in the world, and only one of two National Park sites. The other is the Timpanogos Cave National Monument in Utah.
What that means is that these sites are near, or surrounded by, big cities — but they’re planned and designed in a way to promote the kind of big-sky, pristine stargazing experience urbanites don’t tend to witness very often.
Dark Sky also has a directory of locations outside the National Parks — so if you’re not terribly close to one, chances are there’s still a good stargazing spot in commuting distance. The organization says there are over 160,000 square kilometers of protected land and night skies in 22 countries on 6 continents.
No matter where you live though -
We all do share the same stars.
And when we gaze up at them, even for a moment, we can remember that we, too, are infinite.
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