Night Sky Tourist

Vicky Derksen

Discover the wonder of the night sky from your own backyard, travel to a dark sky location, and listen to the star stories of other cultures and civilizations. Night Sky Tourist helps the entire family connect with nature by engaging with the stars, moon, and planets.

  1. 132- Globe at Night Project with Connie Walker

    FEB 12

    132- Globe at Night Project with Connie Walker

    Citizen science is a really cool way to engage with nature in a way that contributes toward our understanding of things, and Globe at Night is a super cool citizen science project you can do while stargazing. As it celebrates its 20th year, Connie Walker shares the project's origin story, how you can participate, and the scientific research it has generated. I wrap up the episode by taking you on an in-depth naked-eye tour of the incredible Orion constellation. You’ll never see Orion the same way ever again! LINKS FROM EPISODE 132: 2026 Stargazing Guide (FREE download): https://nightskytourist.com/guide/  Globe at Night: https://globeatnight.org/  SciStarter (sky quality meter library kits): https://scistarter.org/citizen-science-kit-measuring-light-in-the-night  Dark Skies Rangers: https://globeatnight.org/dark-skies-rangers/  NOIRLab Education Materials: https://noirlab.edu/public/products/education/edu001/  Light Pollution Demo (with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc-DODdtFCE  International Dark Sky Week: https://idsw.darksky.org/  DarkSky International: https://darksky.org/  VISIT OUR WEBSITE Visit the Night Sky Tourist website to book private stargazing experiences, read inspiring articles, and find resources to take your stargazing to the next level. You can find us at: https://nightskytourist.com/  FOLLOW & SUPPORT Rate us: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightskytourist/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightSkyTourist Newsletter: Sign up at NightSkyTourist.com for exclusive content and updates Questions? Email Hello@NightSkyTourist.com

    35 min
  2. 129- Sunset & Sips at Taliesin West with Aija Cave

    11/04/2025

    129- Sunset & Sips at Taliesin West with Aija Cave

    Night Sky Tourist partners with many organizations and venues, but Taliesin West is definitely the most unique. Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taliesin West was the winter home of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. This UNESCO World Heritage Site offers self-guided tours during the day and occasionally hosts stargazing experiences at night. Aija Cave joins us for a behind-the-scenes look at this incredible site and shares details about the upcoming Sunset & Sips event in November 2025, which will feature stargazing with the Night Sky Tourist Star Dudes. LINKS FROM EPISODE 129: 2025 Stargazing Guide (FREE download): https://nightskytourist.com/guide/  Taliesin West & Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation: https://franklloydwright.org/  Sunset & Sips (link good through the end of November 2025): https://franklloydwright.org/event/sunsets-sips-1120/  Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/wrighttaliesin  Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/wrighttaliesin/  VISIT OUR WEBSITE Visit the Night Sky Tourist website to book private stargazing experiences, read inspiring articles, and find resources to take your stargazing to the next level. You can find us at: https://nightskytourist.com/  FOLLOW & SUPPORT Rate us: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightskytourist/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightSkyTourist Newsletter: Sign up at NightSkyTourist.com for exclusive content and updates Questions? Email Hello@NightSkyTourist.com

    27 min
  3. 127- Biking Across the Bortle Scale in the Wild Dark with Craig Childs

    08/12/2025

    127- Biking Across the Bortle Scale in the Wild Dark with Craig Childs

    Award-winning author Craig Childs joins me to chat about his brand new book, The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light. We talk about his adventure of biking across the Bortle Scale from the blindingly bright Las Vegas Strip to the darkest night of the Great Basin of Nevada. He shares his thoughts about what the night would look like if we inhabited a lone solar system floating between galaxies, how ancient cultures anchored the night sky to their local landscape, and why light at night is so seductive. LINKS FROM EPISODE 127: 2025 Stargazing Guide (FREE download): https://nightskytourist.com/guide/  Order The Wild Dark book here: https://www.torreyhouse.org/the-wild-dark  Craig Childs: http://www.houseofrain.com/index.cfm  The Bortle Scale: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/light-pollution-and-astronomy-the-bortle-dark-sky-scale/  Night Sky Tourist events: https://nightskytourist.com/events/  VISIT OUR WEBSITE Visit the Night Sky Tourist website to book private stargazing experiences, read inspiring articles, and find resources to take your stargazing to the next level. You can find us at: https://nightskytourist.com/  FOLLOW & SUPPORT Rate us: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightskytourist/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightSkyTourist Newsletter: Sign up at NightSkyTourist.com for exclusive content and updates Questions? Email Hello@NightSkyTourist.com

    43 min
  4. 126- Place-Based Cross-Quarter Day Celebrations with Mariah Gladstone- Indigikitchen

    07/30/2025

    126- Place-Based Cross-Quarter Day Celebrations with Mariah Gladstone- Indigikitchen

    Tired of living disconnected from nature's rhythms while racing through an endless calendar of obligations? This episode explores how Cross-Quarter Days—the forgotten midpoints between solstices and equinoxes—can transform your year from four rushed seasons into eight meaningful moments of pause and reflection. Rather than borrowing ancient Celtic traditions that don't match your local landscape, discover how to create place-based celebrations anchored to what's actually happening in your backyard: which plants are fruiting, what animals are active, how the night sky shifts, and what indigenous peoples called each full moon. Joined by Mariah Gladstone, founder of Indigikitchen and expert in indigenous food systems, we'll discuss how regular gatherings around seasonal, locally-sourced meals can reconnect you to both your natural surroundings and your community. This conversation will give you practical tools for slowing down and finding meaning in nature's calendar, without cultural appropriation or complicated rituals. LINKS FROM EPISODE 126: 2025 Stargazing Guide (FREE download): https://nightskytourist.com/guide/  Indigikitchen: https://www.indigikitchen.com/  Indigikitchen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Indigikitchen  Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/books  “The Little-Known Links between Holidays and Cross-Quarter Days”: https://nightskytourist.com/cross-quarter-days/  VISIT OUR WEBSITE Visit the Night Sky Tourist website to book private stargazing experiences, read inspiring articles, and find resources to take your stargazing to the next level. You can find us at: https://nightskytourist.com/  FOLLOW & SUPPORT Rate us: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightskytourist/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightSkyTourist Newsletter: Sign up at NightSkyTourist.com for exclusive content and updates Questions? Email Hello@NightSkyTourist.com

    53 min
5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

Discover the wonder of the night sky from your own backyard, travel to a dark sky location, and listen to the star stories of other cultures and civilizations. Night Sky Tourist helps the entire family connect with nature by engaging with the stars, moon, and planets.