Dark Sky Festival returning to Death Valley National Park next weekend

There’s nothing more extraordinary than a desert night sky, and one longstanding festival in an iconic national park offers incredible opportunities to experience these astonishing astronomical visuals that rival any other in America.

“It’s the single largest event that occurs in the park each year and probably one of the finest astronomical-type programs that you’re going to find in the National Park Service,” said David Blacker, executive director of the Death Valley Natural History Association, Death Valley National Park’s official nonprofit partner organization.

The Death Valley Dark Sky Festival is returning to the national park from Feb. 6 through Feb. 8. DarkSky International, a starry-sky conservation and advocacy group fighting against light pollution, has labeled Death Valley National Park a Gold Tier Dark Sky Park, the highest rating of darkness for a park.

In addition to the Death Valley Natural History Association, the event is a collaboration between Death Valley National Park, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames Research Center, the Las Vegas Astronomical Society, the SETI Institute and the California Institute of Technology, according to the NPS website.

“They each cover their own kind of expertise, but it gives you a wonderful variety of programming in the park,” Blacker added, who has been involved with the festival for more than 10 years.

Featured speaker presentations from NASA experts will cover the ‘Search for Life Beyond Earth’ and the Deep Synoptic Array, the world’s most powerful radio telescope. Weekend events will include astrophotography tutorials for beginners, night-sky viewing through telescopes (Star Parties), guided walks explaining how Death Valley is used in research for Mars, astronomy talks on Jupiter’s moons, trivia with food and drinks (Astronomy on Tap), and family-friendly programs such as becoming a NASA engineer to build your own “spacecraft” on Mars.

“It’s only a short drive from Pahrump to get here. It’s absolutely amazing,” Blacker added about the festival.

Admission to the festival is free, but visitors must still pay or have an entry pass to enter Death Valley National Park in order to attend.

For more information about the Death Valley Dark Sky Festival and to view all the programs and their specific times, visit nps.gov/deva. More information about entry fees and passes can also be viewed there.

To learn more about the Death Valley Natural History Association, visit dvnha.org.

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at edulay@pvtimes.com