Stargazing planner
Stargazing planner, Uyuni salt flats at night
If you are planning a trip to salar de Uyuni for stargazing be sure to check out the following info in order to choose the right date/season, make a plan and get ready for your trip.
Did you know that the total number of humans (terrestrials) who have been to outer-space is now 558? There are also nine space travelers who surpassed the 50-miles border, including the founders of Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX. These companies are transporting space tourists on a trip around the Moon. However, if you can not afford your own mission to the moon, but you would still love to have a “similar” experience without having to leave our planet at all, then you should definitively consider a visit to salar de Uyuni. This is as close to an outer space experience as you can get without having to take a rocket space shuttle.
It is such an otherworldly place that it can be no surprise that salar de Uyuni has a place in the « Star Wars » universe. The film makers chose to shoot at the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni for one of the key moments in the latest « Star Wars » film: « The Last Jedi », the battle on planet Crait. Planet Crait is a barred world covered in salt. The remote alien beauty of the Salar de Uyuni make for an easy transition into a new planet perfect for a sci-fi movie, that is why director Rian Johnson chose to bring the planet of Crait to life using a real location here on Earth.
During the day the Uyuni salt flat with its infinitely white and blue scenery is: heaven on Earth. And at night, Uyuni becomes a surreal three-dimensional planetarium, making you feel as if you’re floating in outer space.
The lack of light pollution (light pollution world map), clean air and a never-ending horizon that allows photographers to play with perspective and depth of field are some of the reasons why Uyuni is one of the best places to stargaze!
There are no astronomical facilities at the Uyuni salt flats, and although you can take your own telescope with you if you are a real astronomy fan, the truth is that armed only with the naked eye and your photo camera you can have a unique and unforgettable night out watching the sky.
The stargazing tour in Uyuni is fun for everybody! Even if you don’t have any astronomy knowledge. Maybe you just enjoy watching the stars and you would love to get out of the city to take a closer look at them, or maybe you are looking for a heart-melting romantic experience with your significant one. Everyone can look up at the sky. It has an immediate appeal, also for kids.
« The sight of the stars always make me dream » – Vincent van Gogh
Have we made you enthusiastic enough about spending a night under the stars in Uyuni? Then there are a few things you need to consider or keep in mind before planning your stargazing trip:
1. What is the best time of the year for stargazing? Check out our page about the weather in Uyuni. Keep in mind that regardless the season it might rain that night, or it might be very cloudy, and in such a case the trip might get cancelled.
2. Which moon phase is better for stargazing? The best phase of the moon for stargazing depends on what you want to do. Even full moon nights are suitable, some people enjoy watching the moon itself. At peak fullness, the brightness of a full moon over this fascinating landscape is a hauntingly beautiful image. On the other hand, nightscape photographers and people using telescopes are more interested in observing deep-sky objects in space so they look forward to moon-free nights. They avoid full moon because its glare interferes with deep-sky objects.
- New Moon: If you want to photograph the Milky Way or capture fainter stars and starscapes, shoot under a new moon. Downside: the low light increases the noise or aberrant pixels that may occur with common nightscape settings, such as high ISO and a long exposure. Photographing under a new moon as opposed to the bright light of a full moon allows for the dark silhouettes of geologic features to pop out against a starry sky.
- Full Moon: Shooting under a full moon that is low in the sky serves to illuminate the foreground of your scene and drowns out potential light pollution, but this technique isn’t always ideal for celestial photography because it will obscure faint stars.
- Quarter or Crescent Moon: Want the best of both worlds—a detailed foreground and starry skies? Consider shooting with a crescent moon or quarter moon behind you to illuminate the foreground of your scene.
So, consider full moon illumination. The illumination might indeed affect the visibility of night objects but it is still possible to do the stargazing tour.
The ideal situation for most people looking for a sky full of stars would be what astronomers call a new moon (also called the Dark moon) night with few clouds.
In a simple short sentence: Look for cool clear moonless nights or up to a half moon phase or less (unless you specifically want to photograph the moon!)
If you’re going out to specifically shoot the moon, research the phases of the moon (A full moon is the most popular of the eight moon phases to photograph), so you know what time the moon will rise and set each evening so you know when to plan your shoot. Also note the direction it will travel in the sky to plan your composition.
So, be sure to check the lunar calendar, also in case there are some astronomical events you’d like to observe, like meteor showers or eclipses. If you want to photograph the stars, consider also that you have to wait until it’s completely dark, at least until the end of the astronomical twilight, when it gets completely dark. Check the Sunrise and sunset times in Salar de Uyuni
3. Invest in a star chart or stargazing apps to find constellations and planets. With the right mobile stargazing apps you can turn your smartphone into an astronomy toolbox, they are useful for both casual stargazers and serious astronomers. These smartphone apps will easily point stars and planets out for you making it fun to figure out the night sky on your own!
Some apps (most of them are free) we recommend are: Starmap, Sky View, StarWalk2, Star Chart, Skysafari, Sky Map, GoSkyWatch Planetario (exclusively for Ipad), etc.
Stellarium is a fantastic online program, it’s kind of like Google Earth for stars (the GPS coordinates of Uyuni salt flats are: 20.1338° S, 67.4891° W). You punch in the location at which you’re going to be and the time you’re going to be there and it takes you to that spot and simulates the star field, the moon phase, and the brightness of the location at that time. You get a 360-degree view that you can scroll around and look at.
4. Is your goal to photograph the Milky Way? Then you are on the right way to maximize your chances by choosing the salar de Uyuni, a high altitude area away from light pollution. And if you come during the rainy season, when the salar becomes a giant mirror, you will enjoy a mesmerizing otherworldly moment. There is no other place like this on earth!
The Milky Way is visible throughout the year at the Uyuni salt flats, but the best time to observe it is during the “Milky Way season”. This is the time when the core (the center) of our galaxy, the most spectacular region, is visible in the sky. The Milky Way season in the Southern Hemisphere is from mid February to late October. We recommend using a Milky Way app like Photopills, for the best hours to see the Milky Way and/or checking a Milky Way calendar, for example the one from Capture the Atlas. Note that this calendar has been created for latitude 22 S, so there will be a few minutes difference in the chart, but it will work fine for Uyuni as well.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the very best time to photograph the Milky Way is at the start of the Milky Way season (February to April), and guess what? This is during the rainy season, when the salt flats are most likely to be covered with water and become a giant cosmic mirror that reflects everything. It’s pure magic!
Remember that darkness is important for maximum visibility, so other related factors to consider are the moon phase and the sunrise/sunset times. In order to see all the details of the Milky Way, you will need complete darkness, so you will have to wait at least until the end of the astronomical sunset. Check the Sunrise and sunset times in Salar de Uyuni
5. Take your camera (don’t forget to take spare batteries with you) and make amazing photos. The landscape setting at the Uyuni salt flats is already awe-inspiring and there is no light pollution.
Your DSLR camera or phone camera will do it (also without a telescope) but if you want to take better, jaw-dropping night sky photos, you will basically need 2 things:
- a full-frame camera (for better ISO capabilities)
- a tripod (for stability during 15 -25 second photos, if you don’t have a tripod you can also use a beanbag on the car roof and rest your camera on it) and a cable release (you can do without a cable release by using the camera’s timer to take the shot).
Camera settings Start with these settings: max. 25 second exposure (The challenge is getting stars that appear clear and crisp, rather than blurry.)
If you want to shoot a star trail photo then change the exposure to 30 seconds), f/2.8 or f/3.5 (Use the widest or largest aperture possible, this offer more stars to fill the night sky, the larger the aperture, the wider your camera is open and the more light the lens collects), ISO 1600 (avoid full moon) and consider the composition. A foreground element is very helpful, and having water in the scene is a bonus – the stars can reflect off the surface of the water (this is possible in Uyuni during the rainy season, with the giant mirror effect). The image shouldn’t only be about the stars, but how they interact with the landscape.
Optional: a fisheye lens for the widest view of the sky might be handy.
Inspect your photo and keep trying different settings and composition.
If you get even more serious about taking the perfect photo you might even consider using a photography app such as: photopills, it will help you design, plan and execute your shoot.
You can get tips from other photographers that share information on the web. There are several interesting free night photography tutorials such as:
https://www.davemorrowphotography.com/p/tutorial-shooting-night-sky.html
Or this one from Nikon: https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/photographing-the-night-sky.html
6. And last but not least, dress warmly and wear layers, you don’t want to let the cold ruin your night. Wear a hat, gloves, scarf, sweater, coat and thermal underwear. Temperatures drop below freezing point, you’re outside for most of the time and your body temperature will drop the longer you sit still.
Use the force and join the Ruta Verde side 😉 Escape with us to the last jedi battleground and stay in a hotel made entirely out of salt with an indoors swimming pool and spa. Check out our Uyuni stargazing tours and our complete range of Uyuni salt flats tours.
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You can always contact us for more information. Happy travels and stargazing!
