For those not in the know, astrotourism is one of the hottest trends in travel. It brings people to destinations where they can witness everything from the aurora borealis to solar eclipses, and to places with low light pollution where the stars shine the way they were meant to be seen. And according to Kühl, the outdoor apparel company, it might be more necessary than you think.
The early bird gets the worm, as the old saying goes. And now a lot of birds around the globe are starting their days earlier than ever, because of unnaturally bright skies caused by light pollution. "For these birds, effectively their day is almost an hour longer. They start vocalizing about 20 minutes earlier in the morning and they stop vocalizing about 30 minutes later in the evening," says Neil Gilbert, a wildlife ecologist with Oklahoma State University.
"It just feels amazing looking up seeing all these different constellations," said Maya Howitt. The girl is here with her parents, Emma and Cameron Howitt, and the three of them are taking turns looking through a telescope that's pointed at a pair of stars in the 'handle' of the Big Dipper.