Death Valley is a wonderful place for star-gazing.  The stars are clearer here than just about any other place in the United States.  Death Valley has been rated one of the top ten places in the US for night sky viewing by Fodor’s Travel and is one of only three national parks that has earned International Dark Sky certification.  The north end of the park, especially, is good because Las Vegas is another 60 miles away and mountains block most of the glow.

There are ranger programs every week where people gather to look at the stars.  Most of them are out at Mesquite Sand Dunes, which is about 45 minutes from us.  Tom and I haven’t been to one of these programs.  Tom says we don’t need to listen to a ranger when he can tell me all the star stories I want.  Tom does know many things about stars and can find any constellation that is appearing and tell me about it.

Tom and I love to go out on moonless nights and see the stars.  The Milky Way is so clear that it looks like a white, gauzy sheet strung across the sky.  I have tried to take pictures of the stars but I can’t adjust the shutter speed enough to get more than the few brightest stars.  But with my eyes – oh my, what a show!  Right now is an especially good time to watch the stars.  It is warmer, but not hazy from the heat yet, and the moon is not up until morning.

Death Valley is a wonderful place to come and look at the stars.  The night sky is spectacular every night – even when it is cloudy – and there is nothing better than looking up into the heavens in the coolness of the night air.