Half the park is after dark when the night skies come alive with dazzling stars. In the winter, skies are filled with a whole new catalog of stars, making the experience even better. Derek Culver took this amazing photo in December of Zion National Park in Utah. That’s the Virgin River, the Watchman, and in the sky, you can see the Orion Constellation with Barnard’s loop and Orion Nebula. Photo courtesy of Derek Culver. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 3/5/17.
Arches National Park. Photo by Joshua Snow. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 5/4/17.
Amateur photographer Matthew Hanna won the Share The Experience photo contest night sky category for this beautiful pic of the Milky Way stretching above the seastacks at Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Spanning the Oregon coast, the wilderness islands and windswept headlands of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge are celebrated for their abundant wildlife, rugged grandeur and amazing night skies. Photo by Matthew Hanna. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 5/4/17.