WIDE OPEN SPACE

UTAH'S DRAMATIC SCENERY AND DARK SKIES ARE A DREAM FOR ADVENTURERS AND STAR-GAZERS ALIKE, AS ROSIE SHEAD DISCOVERS

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"WE are literally stardust," our tour guide Scott explains as I gaze up at a sea of stars on my first night in Utah.

"Every element that forms your body, every element that formed anything on Earth was produced in the heart of a star somewhere in the universe."

Battling the impending jet lag, I have refused the call of my cosy room at Compass Rose Lodge, around an hour outside Salt Lake City in the west of the United States, and am standing in a chilly observatory as Scott spins the domed roof and adjusts the telescope to reveal the mysteries of our cosmos.

I bend over the eyepiece and gasp as I catch my first glimpse of the planet Saturn, a glowing pale yellow orb with its rings sharp against the black night sky.

"Astronomy really is one of the oldest things we've done on earth," historian Kevin Schindler says at the inaugural Bluff Dark Sky Festival, in the town's community hall a few days later.

"From when our species was maybe a little hunched over and maybe dragging our knuckles a little bit, we looked up in the sky and we felt awe and wonder."

That is the ethos of the festival - to encourage astronomers of all ages, backgrounds and levels of expertise to come together and enjoy the magic of the night sky.

Although stargazing might not be the first thing that comes to mind when picturing the plains of the Wild West - Utah's large swathes of sparsely populated land mean light pollution is minimal, making it an ideal location for astrotourism.

Bluff is a small town in San Juan County with a population of around 250 and yet more than 100 people have attended the two-day event some of whom have driven hundreds of miles to be here.

One man, who has transported his telescope worth thousands of dollars to share it with festival-goers, tells me his fascination began as a young boy on camping trips with his best friend, and that he still feels a sense of wonder whenever he looks at the night sky.