Some of the darkest skies in the contiguous 48 states are found in this part of the country. You will be amazed by the large number of stars visible to the naked eye on a moonless night near Moab. Far from the city lights that mask the stars, the night sky reveals a new world. Under normal conditions, an estimated 2,500 sparkling stars should be visible. Many have seen the easy-to-find star pattern of the North Star and the Big Dipper. Here you can also see all the stars that surround the Big Dipper. Every star you see belongs to the Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way, an unusual swath of dim light generally visible during any month and from any location. At Canyonlands, the naked eye is all you’ll need to witness a wealth of astronomical phenomena. Under the right conditions, common binoculars reveal the gentle glow of the Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. The hundreds of billions of stars that compose it cause the diffuse light of Andromeda. The several distinct stars that surround it are stars in our galaxy.

A planetary tip: The best way to spot a planet is to look just after sunset when the sky is not yet completely dark. Planets tend to come out first as if to say, "Here I am, look at me!" How to tell a planet from a star? As a rule, planets are bright and do not twinkle. Stars, hot balls of gas giving off light in the darkness of space, usually twinkle.

For more information on the stars, buy a star wheel or a star guide available at Back of Beyond Bookstore on Main Street.