Night lights: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument to host dark sky events

There’s a sense of the surreal that can accompany a trip to the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.

“There is something about the feeling of being humbled by the environment that you are in,” says Natalia Sanchez Hernandez, who is chief of interpretation and visitor services at the park. “As you drive out to Mountainair and to the site, you really start to see the remoteness and the country and the openness, you realize this is what people living here would have experienced over 400 years ago.

“So there’s something humbling about being able to put yourself in that context of getting that sense of, ‘OK, how do you survive out here with perhaps no water or perhaps complete darkness?’ There’s just that sense of humility that I enjoy being here on that site.”

Night lights: Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument to host dark sky events

That perspective is further amplified during the park’s dark sky events, which are held throughout the spring and summer months (2024 will feature six in total) at the Abó and Quarai units of the monument. Salinas Pueblo Missions was accredited as an International Dark Sky Park in 2016, which means it was recognized for preserving and protecting the site through “responsible lighting policies and public education,” as per DarkSky.org

“It is something that we’re very proud of,” Sanchez Hernandez said. “In terms of our proximity to Albuquerque, we’re not that far … It is one of the few places where you can still see a pristine dark sky so close to an urban area.”

Each of these events are free to the public and require no advance registration. The programs begin at 7:30 p.m. with a guided pueblo and mission walk, which provides a stunning sunset view as well as some educational aspects. That ties in with a primary point of emphasis at Salinas Pueblo Missions, which emphasizes the cultural interactions and conflicts between the Spanish, who arrived and developed the mission sites in the area, and the ancestral Pueblo people who had previously inhabited the land.

“It really does place you in the landscape of what it would have been like in 1600 and before in a remote, super pristine (place) — including our dark skies,” Sanchez Hernandez said. “Frankly, as you step out of an urban area like Albuquerque, you are literally traveling back in time. And you can see that as the landscape becomes more and more remote.”

During the first part of the program, which lasts approximately 45 minutes, visitors will get to see various Spanish and Pueblo ruins and learn from rangers how the intersection of cultures influenced central New Mexico for generations.

From there, the program transitions into the night sky portion of the evening, as visitors will have the opportunity to use telescopes to view features such as the Milky Way, various constellations and planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. There is also a dark sky photography workshop, which allows participants to test different equipment on hand to take pictures of the night sky.

“We are looking into the possibility of being able to actually print the images that our visitors take during the event so they can keep that as a memento of their visit with us,” Sanchez Hernandez said.

According to Sanchez Hernandez, approximately 30 to 40 people typically attend each Dark Sky event. That number can vary: The most recent one at Abó on June 7 drew 75 attendees. Visitors are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes and bring water, snacks and a flashlight, if possible. Feedback is always welcome, Sanchez Hernandez says, especially for an event that is growing in popularity.

“We’re seeing increased numbers, and we’re very happy to see that. And we’re seeing a lot of interaction from our visitors during this event, which is why they’re becoming so popular,” Sanchez Hernandez said. “We’re a smaller park, so you really do have an opportunity to interact with our team during the walk and ask questions and really take your time.”