March starts with marvels of the starriest sort at the Death Valley Dark Sky Festival

IN LIKE A LION? That's how March is said to arrive, at least according to a sort of folksy weather wisdom. But rather than blowing in with a gale and a gust, which is what the oft-repeated chestnut suggests, what if the third month could arrive trailing stardust, planetary power, and the majesty of a noble nebula? If you pay a visit to Death Valley National Park over the first three days of March 2024, that is how your month will majestically begin. It will be, in fact, less about the blustery forces felt here on Earth and more about the cool vastness of limitless space, thanks to a whole line-up of astronomy programs clustering around a fascinating three-day event. The Death Valley Dark Sky Festival will include activities for families, neato, and the chance to burnish your astrophotography skills, to which we must say "neato" yet again.

SEVERAL STARRY PARTNERS... are partnering on the galactic gathering with Death Valley National Park and the names are truly, well, stellar: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is on the list, along with the California Institute of Technology, SETI Institute, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames Research Center, and, oh yes, the divine Death Valley Natural History Association, long a go-to for all things to know about the incredible landscape. The Exploration Fair is a good place to connect with scientists from these eminent organizations, while Talks Around the Park will take a space-tastic bent; "Mars-like Places on Earth: A Journey into the Ubehebe Crater" is one intriguing adventure. For the full galaxy of goings-on, land your craft at this site now.