Title: Utah Night Sky
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane & Nigel Ruck
Date: 9th December 2018

Utah is an amazing state, known for its striking landscape and beautiful night skies.

• As soon as you enter Utah, you’ll notice the dramatic change in landscape. The mountains are spectacular, framing the horizon, and the valleys are covered in fields of green.
• The state is known for its iconic red rock mountains and canyons. In some cases, the roads have been carved into this rugged landscape, with the series of tunnels and arches making the drive absolutely spectacular.
• An essential stop off in Utah is Bryce Canyon National Park. The park has a remarkable landscape unlike anywhere else and is an amazing location for photography.
• The park is truly special because of its Hoodoos. Believed to be formed around 5 million years ago, these are some incredible rock formations. The local indigenous people believe that bad people wandered into the valley and were turned into stone by a coyote – at night-time, you can make out the faces in the rock.
• While the canyon is amazing during the day, the night transforms the area, with the stars taking centre stage. Dark sky reserves have become increasingly popular for tourists coming from big cities, as light pollution means that only 1% of stars can be seen from built up areas.
• The area is sparsely populated, with only a small amount of artificial light. The skies here are almost as dark as when the first people walked the Earth, and the park rangers give constellation tours of the stars.