While the beauty of the Rocky Mountains during the day cannot be oversold, there is an entire celestial world that comes alive after the sun sets and northwest Montana is among the top locations in the country to peer into the cosmos.
With the undeveloped expanse of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex to the east, Waterton-Glacier National Park and the Whitefish Mountain Range stretching to the north, there is a huge swath of the region perfectly set up for stargazing.
In 2021, Glacier was certified as an International Dark Sky Park, one of more than 200 certified Dark Sky Places around the world, after meeting a series of criteria that included inventorying every exterior light fixture in the park and transitioning the bulbs to fit dark sky lighting requirements. “Dark night skies are an important wilderness characteristic at Glacier National Park (GNP). Clearly seeing the expanse of the universe increases a person’s sense of solitude well beyond that of the terrestrial landscape,” said GNP Deputy Superintendent Pete Webster when the park was certified. Now, most places within the park have a sky-quality meter rating of 21.5 to 21.8, mere points below a perfect 22 rating of a moonless night with zero artificial light.
Nestled in the Salish Mountains, the nearby Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is certified as a Dark Sky Sanctuary, meeting the same criteria. The 9,225-acre refuge includes an interpretive exhibit featuring dark sky conservation and maps to guide stargazing in the area. In addition to bolstering the chances of witnessing a meteor shower or the Aurora, dark sky initiatives help protect wildlife, many of which are considered nocturnal. Nearly half of the animal species found at Lost Trail are nocturnal, including 13 species of bats, eight species of owls and most amphibian and reptiles. Naturally dark skies play a crucial role in the health of these animals.
You’ve made it somewhere dark, now what? Look up! Here’s a few things to watch for this fall.
One of the most awe-inspiring wonders of space is the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. During times of high solar activity, geomagnetic storms around the north pole cause brilliant flares of green, orange and red light waves to dance along the horizon. The sun has a roughly 11-year cycle and the winter of 2024-2025 is expected to have peak solar activity. Check the NOAA aurora forecast and, when probability is high, aim to be lying down far from any lights by midnight.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is expected to be visible to the naked eye in October. This comet, which will be closest to Earth on Oct. 12, is expected be even brighter than the NEOWISE comet that lit up northern hemisphere skies in 2020.
The idea of wishing on a shooting star is built into us starting in childhood and seeing a bright light streaking across the sky always provides a moment of wonder. Around Nov. 17, the Leonid meteor shower will peak, with up to 10 meteors an hour visible.