The long-anticipated groundbreaking for Phase I of Kanab’s new Stellar Vista Observatory facility took place on April 11th, with more than 50 people in attendance. Kane County Commissioners Gwen Brown, Celeste Meyeres and Patty Kubeja were present along with Utah State Representative Logan Monson. It was wonderful to see friends new and old come to support this community endeavor. Kane County Water Conservancy General Manager Mike Noel, along with SVO’s Natalie Brannon, Rich Csenge and Eric Sims marked the occasion with their remarks, which were followed by photos with members of the SVO board of directors and working group. All are looking forward to the commencement of construction!
Update for Great Planetary Popularity Contest: $1,220 raised!
A huge thank you to all who voted in the Great Planetary Popularity Contest! Mars is far and away the most popular celestial body in the Solar System, with 61% of all votes. To date, a total of $1,220 has been raised for the purchase of interpretive signs for SVO’s Von Del Chamberlain Walk through the Solar System. SVO’s Eric and Sylvia Sims have generously offered to match up to $1,000 in donations from community members! Give now so your contribution will go twice as far!
To vote, head to Planetary Popularity Contest: Build Our Solar Trail! | Stellar Vista Observatory and click the donate button at the top of the page. Select the amount you would like to donate or enter your own custom amount. Underneath, you will see a drop-down menu where you can select the celestial body of your choice. Donations of $100 or more receive a complimentary digital star chart for the day and year of your choice! Donations of $250 or more will receive an invitation to a private night sky experience with SVO’s dynamic night sky interpreters!
Event Round Up
In addition to our Groundbreaking Ceremony, SVO celebrated International Dark Sky Week and Utah Dark Sky Month by hosting multiple events over the course of two weeks, delighting more than 150 people!
Curious Cosmos Science Talk
The inaugural Curious Cosmos Science Talk on Wednesday, April 15th was both fascinating and entertaining. Twenty or so attendees were treated to amazing facts about the planets in Eric Sim’s talk entitled,”The Solar System: Things They Didn’t Teach You in School”. Those in attendance learned that Mars is tearing apart its own moon, the rings of Saturn will eventually disappear, and on two planets in our solar system, Uranus and Neptune, it rains diamonds! Too bad they’re so far away, right? Our next Curious Cosmos Science Talk is slated for Wednesday, July 15 at 6:00 pm in the Kanab City Library multipurpose room. Join others in learning about the preservation of dark and starry night skies with SVO’s Natalie Brannon.
To see the beautiful and informative slides from this presentation, head to: Beyond_the_Textbooks.pptx – Google Slides.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Sun Moon Healing
On Friday, April 17th, SVO delivered a free public star party at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Sun Moon Healing, the newest member of Kane County Friends of the Night Sky. Approximately 15 people attended this event.
Park After Dark
Park After Dark, a public stargazing event in conjunction with the City of Kanab, was attended by more than 40 people on Saturday, April 18th. Locals and visitors alike came out to see Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, and a tiny sliver of the crescent moon.
2026 Tourism Business Development Workshop in Kanab
SVO was delighted to be invited to share its expertise in presentations given at the 2026 Utah Tourism Business Development Workshop on April 22nd and 23rd in Kanab. The event brought people from around the state to learn how to engage in agritourism, astrotourism, and the creative economy of Utah. Rich Csenge and Sylvia Sims spoke about building community partnerships around night sky friendly outdoor lighting while Eric Sims shared SVO’s basic star party curriculum as a guide for businesses wanting to begin offering stargazing experiences for the public.
In addition, on Wednesday, April 22, SVO delivered a star party to all the tourism workshop participants. Approximately 75 people were treated to an amazing view of a SpaceX rocket launch that happened during the event, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SVO also tracked a transit of the Chinese space station across the Sun (the station is approximately 200 miles above Earth in orbit).
Snow Canyon State Park becomes an Urban Night Sky Place
Exciting news for dark sky lovers in Utah! DarkSky International has certified Snow Canyon State Park in Ivins, Utah as an Urban Night Sky Place, making it the 10th Utah State Park to be recognized for its efforts to conserve starry night skies. Utah currently has the largest number of certified International Dark Sky Places in the world. To become certified, Snow Canyon State Park assessed all of its outdoor lighting to achieve 100% compliance. The Park is committed to educating visitors about dark skies and responsible outdoor lighting. The park naturalist will also continue the development of a multi-year project to build a night sky interpretive trail and star gazing location on the east rim of the canyon.
Photo of the Month
This month we feature a photo taken by SVO Night Sky Interpreter Michael McKeon.
Another successful Night Sky Experience with a wonderful young family and very enthusiastic little ones! They saw stars, planets, and galaxies. At the end of the night, they posed by the telescope with the Orion Constellation in the background above their heads. The little ones tried desperately to stay awake because they were having a great time seeing ALL THE STARS!!!
If you want to experience the night sky on a deeper level, sign up for one of SVO’s Night Sky Experiences with our wonderful, knowledgeable and fun guides.
If you have a great star or night sky photo that you would like to share with our audience, we would love to include it in our monthly newsletter. Please send your photos to info@stellarvistaobservatory along with your name and the names of key objects in the photo.
Kane County Friends of the Night Sky
Kane County Friends of the Night Sky is growing, now with 19 member businesses, including Best Friends Animal Sanctuary! Through this free, voluntary community program, Stellar Vista Observatory assists Kane County business owners in showcasing their commitment to preserving the beauty of our starry night skies. This month, we feature a video testimonial from Kanab Tour Company about how easy it is to join the program. You can find it on our website at: Kane County Friends of the Night Sky | Stellar Vista Observatory
All participating businesses can be found in the directory: Participating Businesses | Stellar Vista Observatory
The Incredible Artemis II Mission
by Ella Elman, SVO
When I watched the Artemis II mission blast off on April 1st, I was surprised to find tears in my eyes. So many emotions surfaced at the same time: pride, wonder, excitement and the knowledge that I was watching history being made. It’s almost unbelievable that we have the technology to send humans to the Moon and beyond.
The Artemis II mission captured the attention of the entire country and the world. The press coverage turned into an incredible opportunity to educate the public about space, science, and even how a zero gravity toilet works! The last human-crewed mission to the Moon was Apollo 17 in December 1972, more than 50 years ago, and technology has progressed by light-years since that time.
During this mission, the crew rounded the Moon in a ten-day journey and set a record for the farthest anyone has ever been from our planet. Artemis II traveled 252,756 miles from Earth at its farthest point, and covered a total distance of 694,481 miles. Goals included testing the Orion spacecraft’s life support, navigation and communications systems in real flight conditions.
During their ten days in space, the crew saw micro-meteoroids pelting the lunar surface, witnessed a solar eclipse, and got views of features on the Moon’s far side that had never been seen with human eyes. NASA offers a recap of some amazing photos from the mission here: Artemis II Mission Milestones: An Image and Video Recap – NASA.
Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover were the four astronauts on board. After their return, they reflected on what they experienced: “The sense I had was this sense of fragility and feeling infinitesimally small,” Hansen said. But at the same time, he had “this very powerful feeling as a human being, like as a group,” he added. “I saw it in all these sights, over and over again. … Small and powerless but yet powerful together.” For me, that sums up how I feel looking at the brilliant night sky above – small and insignificant, but full of wonder that the inhabitants of our planet have the ability to reach other worlds.
Future Artemis missions are planned to establish a permanent lunar presence on the moon. The Artemis III mission will test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon in 2027. Artemis IV, scheduled for early 2028, will travel to lunar orbit and enable two crew members to spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon before returning to Earth.
Custom Star Charts – A new way to support SVO
Capture a meaningful moment with a custom star chart showing the exact positions of the stars for any date and location. Perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, first kisses, personal milestones, graduations, and more. Provide your custom text, date, and location – we’ll send a proof, then print and ship anywhere in the U. S. at no extra cost. Digital downloads are also available.
Order your custom star chart now from our website shop at: Custom Star Map | Stellar Vista Observatory
Free Public Star Parties and Events
Please join us for free star parties and events this summer!
- Thursday, May 7, 2026 – “Southern Utah Starry Nights”, 20th annual Amazing Earthfest, Tilted Mesa Trailhead, 10 miles east of Kanab off US HWY 89, 9:30 pm. Jupiter and Venus grace a dark and moonless spring sky while music performed live by Classical Guitarist Julian Harman adds new dimensions to the occasion.
- Friday, June 12, 2026 – Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park on the observation platform (events at the State Park carry a fee of $5/vehicle), 9:45 pm. Last chance to see Jupiter until 2027, and Venus and Mercury will be right next to it! Scorpius rising and the beautiful Summer Triangle.
- Wednesday, July 15, 2026 – Our next Curious Cosmos Science Talk is slated for 6:00 pm at the Kanab City Library in the multipurpose room. Come to learn about the preservation of dark skies with presenter Natalie Brannon of SVO.
Our events calendar can be seen at: Public Star Parties | Stellar Vista Observatory.