JOIN US FOR THE ULTIMATE ASTRONOMY EVENT!

2012 marks the 12th Annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, and to commemorate this milestone, we not only have the usual four nights of wonderfully dark sky that you can explore with our HUGE telescopes, we are also offering the best possible front-row seat to the astonishing "Ring of Fire" solar eclipse. Over the course of 2 hours and 12 minutes our Moon will pass in front of our Sun but because our Moon will be at a distant point in its orbit, it won't completely block our Sun, leaving a fiery ring in the sky. And, the resulting shadow, 180 miles in diameter, will plunge the Bryce Canyon region into five full minutes of night! Venus trailing a few degrees behind will suddenly appear as will some of the brightest stars.

Ron Warner

Opposite the setting Sun, Earth's purple and pink shadow is projected on to Earth's own atmosphere over the eastern horizon of Bryce Canyon. This effect only works in regions with high air quality and far away horizons.

Bryce Canyon won't be the only place you can see this event, but it will be best place. Though not perfectly on the centerline, Bryce is the only location along the path of annularity that you can drive to (until you reach Northern California), where the western horizon is low enough (-0.6 degrees) to see the entire duration of this 2 hour and 12 minute event! Imagine the desert alpenglow of sunset upon the legendary hoodoos of Bryce Canyon… Now imagine it happening twice in the same hour!!?? And as the eclipse shadow continues further west, a second much larger shadow appears! You'll see Bryce Canyon's famous penumbra, the Earth's own purple and pink shadow projected on to the atmosphere just above our distant eastern horizon.

Tyler Allred (copyright)

Telescope image of Saturn

 As minutes tick past, and Earth keeps spinning, the penumbra darkens and expands upward to become pristine darkness ablaze with over 7,500 individual stars - more stars than almost everywhere else in North America that you can drive to. And as soon as our Dark Rangers and guest astronomers can convert their huge telescopes from eclipse-gazing to night-mode they'll show you the red planet Mars with its white icecaps, and then golden Saturn, "the lord of the rings."

NASA

Globular Star Cluster M13 in Hercules

 Once your eyes are in full night-mode then the telescopes will take you to distant nebulae where stars are being born, wispy rings - the remains of stars like ours that have already died, and ancient globular star clusters where the universe's first stars congregated and will glow forever like hundreds of thousands of tiny diamonds piled on black velvet.

Tyler Nordgren (copyright)

Milky Way over Inspiration Point

 And if that's not enough, at the stroke of midnight, an immense silver rainbow will begin to rise… Behold the Milky Way! It's literally billions of stars comprising our galaxies next great spiral arm across from us. And hidden far beyond, but still not out of reach for our telescopes, are hundreds more galaxies wandering the vastness of the universe like so many giant amoebas, fleeing one another, circling one another, occasional passing through each other in this wondrous cosmic dance we know as existence.     

Don't squander the luck that has given you the opportunity to exist at this very moment in time, and this very place in space! Make the most of it and join us here at Bryce Canyon. Parents take the kids out of school! Schools bring you students to Bryce! Memories made during this, our 12th Annual Astronomy Festival, will be so powerful, so unique, that even your grandchildren will try to claim them as their own!

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:
To Be Announced
9:00pm-10:30pm, Saturday, May 19
Ruby's Inn's Ebenezer's Barn & Grill
$2.50 per person (children 5 and under free)

To Be Announced....

NPS photo by Kevin Doxstater

Salt Lake Astronomical Society preparing their telescopes for an evening of stargazing

DAY 1: THURSDAY, MAY 17

• 2:00-3:00pm PLANET WALK @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 2:00-4:00pm (open house) 
  SOLAR ASTRONOMY @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 6:00-7:00pm PLANISPHERE PRACTICE @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center Theater
  
  
• 3 CONCURRENT PRESENTATIONS - FREE tickets must be obtained in person @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
  
  - 8:00-9:00pm @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center: "The First Star People" Bryce Dark Ranger Sean Duffy
  
  - 8:30-9:30pm @ Bryce Canyon Lodge Auditorium: "Strange Universe" Bryce Dark Ranger Geoff Goins
  
  - 9:00-10:00pm @ North Campground Amphitheater: "Lunacy: Humanity Fixation with our Moon" Bryce Dark Ranger Kevin Doxstater
  
  
• 9:30pm-12:00am STARGAZING @ The Bryce Canyon Visitor Center's trailer drop-off/overflow parking lot:
  
  HUGE TELESCOPES provided by the Salt Lake Astronomical Society  
  
  CONSTELLATION TOURS  by Bryce Canyon's Dark Rangers

NPS photo by Kevin Doxstater

Dark Ranger Randy Dunning assists child in preparing model rocket for launch.

DAY 2: FRIDAY, MAY 18

• 2:00-3:00pm PLANET WALK @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 2:00-4:00pm (open house) 
  SOLAR ASTRONOMY @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 6:00-7:00pm PLANISPHERE PRACTICE @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center Theater
  
  
• 3 CONCURRENT PRESENTATIONS - FREE tickets must be obtained in person @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center beginning at 9:00 p.m. Thursday night.
  

- 8:00-9:00pm @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center: "The Lives of Stars" by Bryce Dark Ranger Joel Allen

- 8:30-9:30pm @ Bryce Canyon Lodge Auditorium: "The Mayan Calendar & Doomsday Myths" Archaeologist Jan Allen, PhD.

- 9:00-10:00pm @ North Campground Amphitheater: "Sol: Bringer of Life, Giver of Death" by Bryce Dark Ranger Kevin Poe

• 9:30pm-12:00am STARGAZING @ The Bryce Canyon Visitor Center's trailer drop-off/overflow parking lot:
  
  HUGE TELESCOPES provided by the Salt Lake Astronomical Society.  
  
  CONSTELLATION TOURS  by Bryce Canyon's Dark Rangers

NPS photo by Kevin Doxstater

Children watching each other's model rockets launch

DAY 3: SATURDAY, MAY 19

• 2:00-3:00pm PLANET WALK @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 2:00-4:00pm (open house) 
  SOLAR ASTRONOMY @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 2:00-5:00pm MODEL ROCKET BUILDING & LAUNCHING workshop (kits with motor from $12-$30) @ Ruby's Inn's Ebenezer's Barn & Grill - Fred Olsen
  
  
• 6:00-7:00pm PLANISPHERE PRACTICE@ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center Theater
  
  
• 8:30-10:00pm KEYNOTE: To Be Announced
  (see above)
  @ Ruby's Inn's Ebenezer's Barn & Grill: Admission price: $2.50 per person (children 5 and under free)
  
  
• 10:00pm-12:30am STARGAZING @ The Bryce Canyon Visitor Center's trailer drop-off/overflow parking lot:
  
  HUGE TELESCOPES provided by the Salt Lake Astronomical Society and the Astronomical League. 
  
  CONSTELLATION TOURS  by Bryce Canyon's Dark Rangers

John Sefick

Dark Ranger Angie Richman brings  ancient stories to life during a 20-min constellation tour.

DAY 4: SUNDAY, MAY 20 ECLIPSE DAY! 

• 10:00am-12:00pm (open house) 
  SOLAR ASTRONOMY @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 1:00-4:00pm MODEL ROCKET BUILDING & LAUNCHING workshop (kits with motor from $12-$30) @ Ruby's Inn's Ebenezer's Barn & Grill - Fred Olsen
  
  
• 4:00-5:00pm PLANET WALK @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center
  
  
• 6:30-8:35pm ECLIPSE VIEWING 
  FREE Eclipse Glasses and live video projection from HUGE telescopes at all 3 locations!
  @ Bryce Pt. - FREE Shuttle Access Only!
  @ Inspiration Pt. - FREE Shuttle Access Only!
  @ Ruby's Inn Rodeo Arena - Private Vehicles Access OK! 
   
• 2 CONCURRENT PRESENTATIONS - FREE tickets must be obtained in person @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center beginning at 10:00 p.m. Saturday night.
  

- 9:00-10:00pm @ Bryce Canyon Visitor Center: "Unseen Universe" by Bryce Dark Ranger Ron Warner

- 9:00-10:00pm @ Bryce Canyon Lodge Auditorium: To Be Announced

• 10:00pm-12:00am STARGAZING @ The Bryce Canyon Visitor Center's trailer drop-off/overflow parking lot:
  
  HUGE TELESCOPES  provided by the Dark Rangers of Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Great Basin, & Zion National Parks 
  
  CONSTELLATION TOURS  by Bryce Canyon's Dark Rangers

NPS Design by Kevin Poe & Joel Allen

Bryce Canyon Astronomy Logo

"SNEAK PREVIEW" OF THE 2012 ASTRONOMY FESTIVAL SOUVENIR

This collector's edition patch, featuring Bryce Canyon Astronomy's official logo, will be available during the 12th Annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival (May 17-May 20, 2012) for a recommended donation of $5. All proceeds go toward supporting Bryce Canyon's astronomy endeavors.

FUTURE ASTRONOMY FESTIVALS

• 2012: May 17-May 20 
  Featuring total/annular solar eclipse!
• 2013: June 5-June 8
• 2014: June 25-28