Free Astrophotography Workshop
9:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
High Plateaus Institute and Bryce Amphitheater area
See detailed information and sign up below.
Daytime Activities
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Solar telescopes (weather and staffing dependent) and a special NASA James Webb Telescope exhibit and University of Utah booth.
Evening Programs
A Night in the Parks
Stan Honda will give a visual tour of what you can see in selected national parks after dark. Starry skies, the moon, our galaxy and other astronomical phenomena photographed with the parks’ terrestrial features will be shown. We’ll see a big reason why people visit national parks and why we should preserve our night sky.
About the speaker:
Stan Honda is a New York-based photographer and worked as a photojournalist for 34 years, most recently for Agence France-Presse (AFP), covering a wide range of topics. An ongoing project involves night sky landscapes, combining his longtime interests in astronomy and photography. Stan has worked as an artist-in-residence at eight national parks. His photos have been selected 12 times as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. He even manages to photograph celestial events from New York City.
8:30 p.m. 45 minutes
NOTE: Location given at sign-up. This program requires reservations, which can be made same-day at the Visitor Center beginning at 8 a.m. until capacity is reached. Tickets limited to 6 per group.
Star Stories
Through storytelling and audience participation, discover how tonight’s sky provides you with a compass, clock, calendar, and time machine.
About the speaker:
Amy Sayle, PhD, is a science communicator and award-winning storyteller. As a longtime educator at Morehead Planetarium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she communicates astronomy to the public under the planetarium sky, at skywatching events, and on night paddles. She is a founder of North Carolina's annual Statewide Star Party—partnering with parks, museums, libraries, and historic sites to host a weekend of more than 40 public skywatching events taking place from the NC mountains to the coast. In late 2026 Amy will be an astronomer in residence at Grand Canyon National Park.
North Campground Outdoor Theater
9:00 p.m. 45 minutes
NOTE: If there is inclement weather this program will be moved to the Visitor Center Theater, where tickets will be required. These can be picked up same-day at the Visitor Center beginning at 8 a.m. until capacity is reached. Tickets limited to 6 per group.
Stargazing
10:00 p.m. - Midnight
Location: Overflow Parking lot (across from Visitor Center)
Shuttle hours will be extended for the festival. Parking at the Telescope field will be limited to disabled visitors unable to use the shuttle, and it is still extremely limited. Parking at visitor center not allowed. We advise parking at the Shuttle Station in Bryce City or boarding from your campground/Lodging in the park. Shuttles will run until 12:15 a.m.
Volunteers point their telescopes at some of the night sky's most spectacular sights. White-light flashlights are prohibited due to their negative impact on night vision.
Free Astrophotography Workshop
9:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
High Plateaus Institute and Bryce Amphitheater area
See detailed information and sign up below.
Daytime Activities
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Solar telescopes (weather and staffing dependent) and a special NASA James Webb Telescope exhibit and University of Utah booth.
Evening Program
Program TBA
8:30 p.m. 45 minutes
NOTE: Location given at sign-up. This program requires reservations, which can be made same-day at the Visitor Center beginning at 8 a.m. until capacity is reached. Tickets limited to 6 per group.
About the Speaker:
TBA
North Campground Outdoor Theater
9:00 p.m. 45 minutes
NOTE: If there is inclement weather this program will be moved to the Visitor Center Theater, where tickets will be required. These can be picked up same-day at the Visitor Center beginning at 8 a.m. until capacity is reached. Tickets limited to 6 per group.
The Webb Telescope
The Webb telescope is the largest, most sophisticated telescope ever built; its successful launch in 2021 marked the beginning of a new era of infrared astronomy. In this presentation we will explore Webb’s record-breaking performance and its breakthroughs and discoveries in stellar evolution, exoplanets, and solar system science.
About the speaker:
Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin is the Webb Project Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, and an Operations Scientist for the European Space Agency. She is from the Canary Islands, Spain, where beautiful dark skies and the presence of an astronomical observatory inspired her to become an astronomer. She pursued her undergraduate studies in the Canary Islands, and earned her PhD in Madrid, Spain. She then moved to Cologne, Germany, with a post-doctoral position to conduct extragalactic studies, and joined the JWST MIRI Instrument Team, in charge of integrating, testing, and calibrating the instrument. In 2015 she joined the European Space Agency and moved to Baltimore to work on Webb, where she led the MIRI team through the launch and commissioning periods. She is an expert in mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopy and is part of international collaborations that use space and ground-based observatories to understand the origin and evolutions of our galaxies, from the dawn of the Universe to our own galactic center.
Stargazing
10:00 p.m. - Midnight
Overflow Parking Lot (across from Visitor Center)
Shuttle hours will be extended for the festival. Parking at the Telescope field will be limited to disabled visitors unable to use the shuttle, and it is still extremely limited. We strongly advise parking at the Shuttle Station or boarding from your campground/Lodge in the park. Parking at visitor center parking lot will not be allowed. Shuttles will run until 12:15 a.m.
Volunteers point their telescopes at some of the night sky's most spectacular sights. White-light flashlights are prohibited due to their negative impact on night vision.
Free Astrophotography Workshop
9:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
High Plateaus Institute and Bryce Amphitheater area
See detailed information and sign up below.
Daytime Activities
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Solar telescopes (weather and staffing dependent) and a special NASA James Webb Telescope exhibit and University of Utah booth.
Keynote Programs
Star Stories
Through storytelling and audience participation, discover how tonight’s sky provides you with a compass, clock, calendar, and time machine. Help act out one of the greatest star stories ever told. Planetarium educator Dr. Amy Sayle takes you on a trip through the constellations and the eternal legends they tell. Help act out one of the greatest star stories ever told.
8:30 p.m. 45 minutes
NOTE: Location given at sign-up. This program requires reservations, which can be made same-day at the Visitor Center beginning at 8 a.m. until capacity is reached. Tickets limited to 6 per group.
North Campground Outdoor Theater
9:00 p.m. 45 minutes
NOTE: If there is inclement weather this program will be moved to the Visitor Center Theater, where tickets will be required. These can be picked up same-day at the Visitor Center beginning at 8 a.m. until capacity is reached. Tickets limited to 6 per group.
James Webb telescope
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the biggest and most complex telescope ever sent to space and is revolutionizing our understanding of the cosmos in fundamental ways. This talk will give the audience a behind-the-scenes look at the extreme engineering of Webb, as well as a cosmic tour of some of Webb’s most significant discoveries in the study of distant galaxies and black holes.
About the speaker:
Dr. Amber Straughn is an Astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, and is the Communications Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. Amber grew up in rural Arkansas, where the dark night skies inspired her to become an astronomer. She received her B.S. in Physics from the University of Arkansas, and her Ph.D. in Physics from Arizona State University. Amber is interested in answering questions about our universe that relate to how galaxies change over time, including how they form their stars and black holes. Amber is an accomplished public speaker and has appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, PBS NOVA, The Discovery Channel, The Science Channel, NatGeo, in a segment on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and in the Netflix documentary Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine. When she isn't thinking about space, Amber enjoys hiking, yoga, live music, flying her Cessna Skylane with her husband Matt, and playing with her two Great Danes.
Stargazing
10:00 p.m. - Midnight
Overflow Parking lot (across from Visitor Center)
Shuttle hours will be extended for the festival. Parking near the telescope field is intended for disabled visitors who are unable to take the shuttle. Even then, parking is extremely limited. We advise parking at the Shuttle Station or boarding from your campground in the park. No parking in the visitor center lot. Shuttles will run until 12:15 a.m.
Volunteers point their telescopes at some of the night sky's most spectacular sights. White-light flashlights are prohibited due to their negative impact on night vision.
Free Astrophotography Workshop
9:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
High Plateaus Institute and Bryce Amphitheater area
See detailed information and sign up below.
