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Top 10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
There are unique destinations around the world that offer incredible views of the night sky and little light pollution, so even amateur astronomers can see the stars and have a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical experience.
Top 10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night SkyÂ
Do you want to plan a trip to one of the best stargazing spots in the world? Luckily, there are unique destinations around the world that offer incredible views of the night sky and little light pollution, so even amateur astronomers can see the stars and have a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical experience.
In this Article, RNN has listed the 10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch the Night Sky in the world.
1. Pic du Midi, France
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
The Pic du Midi Observatory is an astronomical observatory located 2877 meters above the Pic du Midi de Bigorre in the French Pyrenees. It is part of the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées which has additional research stations in the southwestern French towns of Tarbes, Lannemezan, and Auch, as well as many partnerships in South America, Africa, and Asia, due to the guardianship it receives from the French Research Institute for Development.
If Pic du Midi mountains are a good enough spot for NASA scientists to photograph, it’s good enough for us.
2. Kiruna, Sweden
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016Â and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality in Norrbotten County. The city was originally built in the 1890s to serve the Kiruna Mine.
The Esrange Space Center was established in Kiruna in the 1960s. Also in Kiruna are the Institute of Space Physics and LuleÃ¥ University of Technology’s Department of Space Science.
In winter, the Icehotel in nearby Jukkasjärvi and the northern lights attract tourists. If you want to be blown away by nighttime sky spectacles, Swedish Lapland is your ideal destination. Not only can you stare heavenward in awe of the blanket of glittering constellations, but you might get lucky with a double-whammy showing off the colorful aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights.
3. La Fortuna, Costa Rica
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
La Fortuna, also known as La Fortuna de San Carlos, is undoubtedly one of Costa Rica’s most talked about destinations. La Fortuna is located in the Northern Highlands of Costa Rica, about 2.5 hours from San Jose’s international airport (SJO) and 2.5 hours from Liberia’s international airport (LIR).
The town is centered on a beautiful park with colorful gardens and a large church. The main star, Arenal Volcano, provides the backdrop and can be seen from almost every vantage point.
On the streets surrounding the central park lie many restaurants, hotels, tour operators, and shops. More lodging is on the road leading to the volcano and Lake Arenal.
4. Los Angeles, California, United States
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night SkyLos Angeles might not seem like an ideal place to go constellation-gazing. But the presence of the iconic Griffith Observatory, perched high atop Mount Hollywood, makes it a worthwhile destination for the astronomically intrigued.
Los Angeles is Known primarily for another kind of star the sort you’ll find in Hollywood and an ever-present blanket of smog.
5. Mauna Kea, Hawaii, United States
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
Mauna Kea is an active volcano on the island of HawaiÊ»i. Its peak is 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft) above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of HawaiÊ»i and the second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is about 38 m (125 ft) higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor. Mauna Kea is unusually topographically prominent for its height: its wet prominence is fifteenth in the world among mountains, at 4,205 m (13,796 ft); its dry prominence is 9,330 m (30,610 ft). This dry prominence is greater than Mount Everest’s height above sea level of 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), and some authorities have labeled Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world, from its underwater base.
For visitors, it is one of the clearest places on the planet for viewing the night sky and offers a rare opportunity to experience the polar tundra in Hawaii.
6. Atacama Desert in Chile
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
The Atacama Desert is a desert plateau located on the Pacific coast of South America (Argentina and Chile). Stretching over a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of 105,000 km2 (41,000 sq mi), which increases to 128,000 km2 (49,000 sq mi) of the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included.
The Atacama Desert’s near-perfect visibility provides crystal-clear views of the most famous constellations of the Southern Hemisphere sky including the Tarantula Nebula, the Fornax Cluster of galaxies, the Southern Cross, and even the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
7. Tenerife on the Canary Islands
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of 2,034 square kilometers (785 sq mi) and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of January 2022, it is also the most populous island of Spain and Macaronesia.
8. NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
In daylight, the NamibRand Nature Reserve of Nambia is a dazzling wilderness of rust-coloured dunes and sandy plains, framed by the Nubib Mountains. Leopards, oryx, and zebra roam through the desert, tracked by low-impact safari groups.
By dark, stargazing visitors are treated to magnificent sightings of the moon, planets, and constellations, justifying NamibRand’s status as Africa’s first Dark Sky Reserve. A trip to Nambia is not complete without taking some time to bask in the glow of the stars.
9. Nova Scotia, Canada
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
Nova Scotia is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for “New Scotland”.
In far eastern Canada’s Acadian Skies and Mi’kmaq Lands, a swath of wilderness in undeveloped western Nova Scotia, you’ll find the world’s first certified Starlight. The area was once the home of the indigenous Mi’kmaq nation, whose stories about constellations explained the changing of the seasons and other universal phenomena. Today, a resident astronomer leads guided star walks through the grounds as well as sessions on the lodge’s new stargazing platform.
10. Sark, Channel Islands
10 Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
Designated as the world’s first “Dark Sky Island” in 2011, tiny Sark is free from cars and street lighting, keeping light pollution very low. After sunset, the skies above the smallest of the Channel Islands become an inky-black backdrop illuminated by thousands of bright stars. Planets and, occasionally, shooting stars can be spotted with the naked eye. Sark also has its own observatory for closer encounters with the solar system.
Best Stargazing Places To Watch Night Sky
1. Pic du Midi, France
2. Kiruna, Sweden
3. La Fortuna, Costa Rica
4. Los Angeles, California, United States
5. Mauna Kea, Hawaii, United States
6. Atacama Desert in Chile
7. Tenerife on the Canary Islands
8. NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia
9. Nova Scotia, Canada
10. Sark, Channel Islands
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