Milky Way over Joshua Tree National Park, California

© Schroptschop/Getty Image

An ocean of stars above the desert. Milky Way over Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA

Astronomy has always been a fascinating subject. Even though early astronomers lacked the means to view celestial objects beyond the human eye, yet they still made major discoveries such as calculating the size and distance of the moon, affirming the sun as the centre of our solar system, and predicting the movement of stars relative to the seasons. Today we have sophisticated telescopes, from the orbiting James Webb Space Telescope to portable ones you’ll find in use at International Dark Sky Parks, including Joshua Tree State Park, seen in our photo.