Star-studded night experiences await with Narrogin on the Astrotourism map

The dark, starry sky that stretches over the Wheatbelt each night could become a tourism drawcard for the area, with the Shire of Narrogin announcing a bid to put Narrogin on the map as an Astrotourism Town. Astrotourism WA founder Carol Redford will work with the Shire for the next two years as she strives to make WA the astrotourism capital of the world. Ms Redford said more than 80 per cent of the world’s population lived under a light-polluted sky, with the Milky Way obscured for most. But the weather conditions and low light pollution in WA’s Wheatbelt and Mid West were ideal for stargazing, she said. “The dark night sky that hangs over Narrogin is disappearing all over the world,” Ms Redford said. “A dark night sky is becoming rarer and rarer. “Light pollution is increasing by 2 per cent every year around the world, so humanity is losing sight of the stars. “The biggest asset we have going for us is that Perth is the most isolated capital city on a continent — 80 per cent of Western Australians live in Perth. “So we have beautiful small communities like Narrogin dotted around with low populations, low light pollution, and these amazing dark night skies.” WA is home to a network of 15 Astrotourism Towns including Wickepin, Darkan and Lake Grace, which are all promoted as ideal destinations for stargazing, astrophotography and other astronomy- related activities. Narrogin will soon be another town on that map. Ms Redford said she dreamed of WA becoming the stargazing capital of the world, with people travelling to get a clear view of the galaxy. Shire president Leigh Ballard said there were economic and community benefits to being an Astrotourism Town. “Dark-sky tourism necessitates one or more overnight stays, thereby increasing visitor spending in local economies,” he said.