In the Orana region of New South Wales, Warrumbungle National Park holds a title no other place in Australia held before it: the country's first certified International Dark Sky Park, 23,312 hectares of high, dry air where the night is kept properly dark. Coonabarabran, the town at its gate, calls itself the stargazing capital of Australia and lives up to it deliberately, keeping its lighting low and warm so the sky above Siding Spring Observatory stays black, and the night here is described as sharper than almost anywhere in the country.
Australia now has six certified dark sky places, including The Jump Up at Winton in outback Queensland, the country's first Dark Sky Sanctuary and one of only about ten on Earth. The stargazing weekends around each new moon book out six months ahead, but the loveliest part needs no ticket and no telescope: the southern hemisphere faces the bright heart of our own galaxy, so a rug, a thermos and an hour's drive from town lights is a front row seat to the universe.
Our short take: certifications from DarkSky International, with park details from NSW National Parks and the Australian National University. Cover photograph: the Milky Way over a gum tree by Jordan Condon, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.