{"id":521830,"date":"2026-03-06T05:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T05:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/521830\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T05:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T05:21:16","slug":"queensland-town-hopes-dark-sky-certification-attracts-stargazers-to-the-outback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/521830\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland town hopes dark sky certification attracts stargazers to the outback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep in the Queensland outback, far from the light pollution of the big cities, clear skies offer spectacular views of the stars.<\/p>\n

Winton, 1,350 kilometres from Brisbane, has leaned into preserving the night sky and has earned an International Dark Sky Community certification.<\/p>\n

A swap to warm-coloured streetlights, local engagement and a comprehensive policy regulating outdoor lighting have helped it become the first town in Queensland to receive the nod.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The certification recognises broad citizen support for Winton’s dark sky preservation. (Supplied: Winton Shire Council)<\/p>\n

Resident Makita Caston said she was captivated by the outback sky after growing up on the coast.<\/p>\n

“To be able to see that with your naked eye, see nebulas and see things that are well beyond our reach is insane,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So many stars. It is ridiculous.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Winton is Queensland’s first dark sky community and the second in Australia, after Carrickalinga in South Australia. (Supplied: Tourism and Events Queensland\/Phil Warren)<\/p>\n

Winton is known for its dinosaur fossils and the Waltzing Matilda Centre, but tourism operators hope the promise of seeing the stars in a new way will give people another reason to visit.<\/p>\n

Winton Shire Council Mayor Cathy White said it was a collaborative community effort to finish the nearly three-year certification process.<\/p>\n

“We’re just over the moon and up in the sky,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve now got this certificate and we’re going to be able to market that overseas.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Winton began its certification process in 2023. (Supplied: Aaron Skinn)<\/p>\n

What is a dark sky community?<\/p>\n

The certification recognises communities committed to protecting the night sky, International Dark Sky Places program manager Amber Harrison said.<\/p>\n

“These are our cities, towns, municipalities and such that have gone above and beyond,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Harrison said there was no minimum quality requirement for the certification.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Winton’s certification has sparked hope of a “dark sky highway”. (Supplied: Tourism and Events Queensland\/Phil Warren)<\/p>\n

“There’s no expectation that certain phenomena in the night sky will be seen, but most of the time they’re typically pretty dark,” she said.<\/p>\n

The Winton community was required to retrofit the town with night-friendly lighting and limit future developments, including illuminated signage and unshielded light fixtures.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette<\/p>\n

Winton lkocals worked together to achieve the certification. (Supplied: Winton Shire Council)<\/p>\n

Tourism operators envision ‘dark sky highway’<\/p>\n

Winton is the second place in Queensland to receive a certification from non-profit DarkSky International.<\/p>\n

The first was the Jump-Up at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, a 25 kilometre drive from Winton, which was recognised as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary in 2019.<\/p>\n

The Jump-Up’s “sanctuary” certification recognises a remote location committed to measuring and preserving low sky brightness.<\/p>\n

A Dark Sky Community accolade is achieved through a town’s implementation of policy and education initiatives with broad community support.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Winton and the nearby Jump-Up mesa plateau at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs are Queensland’s only two Dark Sky International-certified places. (Supplied: Australian Age of Dinosaurs\/Grant Salmond)<\/p>\n

Australian Age of Dinosaurs Head of Museum Naomi Miles said having a dark sky community and sanctuary in close proximity was rare.<\/p>\n

“Obviously there’s some streetlights and things, but in terms of a town with people living in it, it has extraordinarily dark skies,” she said.<\/p>\n

“People just don’t get to see the night sky. It’s one of those commodities that we’ve kind of forgotten about that you just lose connection with.<\/p>\n

“I think people will travel to come and see it, probably maybe even more so than dinosaurs.”\"A<\/p>\n

Winton’s dark sky is being preserved with a policy designed to cut down on light pollution. (Supplied: Steve Lippis)<\/p>\n

Ms Miles said she hoped it would launch a dark sky movement among outback towns to grow the tourism niche.<\/p>\n

“What we’re hoping for is that this is the first of many \u2026 [so] that we can create a dark sky highway from here all the way through the middle of Australia,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deep in the Queensland outback, far from the light pollution of the big cities, clear skies offer spectacular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,260211,260209,260210,260212,91007,128,285,260213],"class_list":["post-521830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dark-sky-areas-australia","tag-dark-sky-certification","tag-dark-sky-community-certification","tag-dark-sky-community-queensland","tag-dark-sky-tourism","tag-science","tag-space","tag-things-to-do-in-winton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}