Astronomy Volunteer

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Bryce Canyon, in addition to being a geological wonderland, has some of the darkest night skies in the state of Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park has been interpreting the night sky for over 50 years, even though we have only recently been declared a dark sky park in 2019, by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA).

For guests and staff alike, there is no shortage of scenery to marvel at and photograph. The park is open 24 hours a day for this exact reason because "half the park is after dark."

As part of the Astronomy interpretation team, you will have the opportunity to help guests finding meaning in the night sky. We host a variety of night sky programs on a weekly basis involving telescopes and guided constellation tours. In addition to regular programing, volunteers may rove along the rim of Bryce Canyon sharing their passion with guests through informal interpretation. Lastly, volunteers may be enlisted to help with our annual Astronomy Festival, which takes place in early June.

What will you be doing?

Visitor Center Information Desk:

As an astronomy volunteer part of the duties will be answering guest questions and orienting them to the park while staffing the visitor center information desk. Because your duties will require you to come in during the mid to late afternoon, you will most likely be helping guests towards the later part of the day and then helping close the Visitor Center.

Night Sky Program:

Astro volunteers will be sharing the night sky with guests through interpretive programming. Astronomy programming at Bryce canyon includes both 15-20-minute constellation tours and star-party style telescope viewings where rangers and volunteers work together using Bryce Canyon's fleet of telescopes to interpret objects in the night sky. We are responsible for ensuring the safety of visitors and equipment. If you prefer to use your own equipment you may elect to do so, however, the park cannot be responsible for any damage that occurs during your time here.

Equipment Operation:

As an astronomy volunteer, you will be working with a team of rangers and other volunteers to make sure operations of the night sky programs run smoothly and the guests enjoy their experience. Duties will include setting up and aligning telescopes, greeting guests, making safety announcements, breaking down all equipment at the end of the night, and recording the number of guests who attended the program.

Start Date - 2022-04-12

End Date - 2022-10-31

Activities include: Conservation Education;Visitor Information;Night Sky / Astronomy

Difficulty_Level: Average

Hosts Housing Amenities: RV/Trailer Pads