Jang is an amateur astronomer from South Korea and she contacted us for assistance when she travelled to Western Australia for a stargazing holiday.

We were able to organise a hire telescope for Jang and her friends to take with them as they travelled through the Mid West region to the Murchison. The telescope was on loan from a local WA amateur astronomer and Jang and her friends used it to observe the stars during their trip.

It was fantastic to hear Jang’s experiences and what she enjoyed most about stargazing in Western Australia. Here is her story written in her own words.

Jang YangSook

Jang YangSook

South Korea

“I met the universe through Western Australia’s beautiful night sky.

There were three galaxies that I could see with the naked eye. The Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud and another one was our Galaxy, the Milky Way.

From one horizon to the other, the Milky Way was magnificent. 

The deep darkness and deep silence was extraordinary. There were only natural sounds and that soothed my mind.”

It was really good sky. I have seen good night skies many times, but I’ve never seen a night sky like WA’s before. WA’s nature is well preserved – rocky landscape, fields and animals – it was a wonderful experience for me. 

I found the Astrotourism WA website and think it is helpful to stargazers. Thanks for your information. 

I envy WA. I’m from South Korea. 

South Korea is not a wide country. Moreover, we have so much light pollution. We don’t have many good dark sky places for stargazing in Korea. 

We try to keep our good dark sky places. But it isn’t easy. Light pollution is getting worse. I think all people like stars but most of people don’t realise we need to preserve star light and nature by keeping the darkness. 

Now, the remaining dark sky places we have are being impacted with industrial development. Nowadays we also suffer from bad dust. When dust storms come to Korea, we can’t see the stars even on a cloud-free night. 

Australia is becoming known as one of the best places to see the stars. There may be more people who will visit for stargazing. 

WA is so different to Korea. It’s a big country with lots of space. I hope WA can keep its dark night sky. Just in case, please make sure visitors respect and help keep the dark sky. 

I hear about how you and your friends are trying to reduce light pollution. It is very valuable thing. Thank you for your effort. I think your effort will have a good effect on people. 

I hope that Australia keeps its beautiful natural environment.

Ready to plan a stargazing holiday?

Check out the Astrotourism Map to discover dark sky stargazing destinations in Western Australia.