The Perseid Vigil
Atacama Desert, Chile
Three nights at 2,400 m during the Perseid peak. Reclined chairs, a 20-inch Dobsonian, and up to 90 meteors an hour with nothing between you and the dark.
Est. under the Atacama sky · 2019
Chase the dark. Meet the whole sky.
Perihelion runs small-group expeditions to the last truly dark places on Earth — guided nights beneath the Milky Way, led by working astronomers, warmed by very good coffee.
Scroll into the night
Expeditions
Three ways to lose the light.
Each trip is capped at twelve travelers, mapped to the new moon, and abandoned entirely if the clouds win. Then we try again — that's the promise.
Aurora Passage
Tromsø & the fjords, Norway
We chase clear gaps by minibus along the coast, kill every headlight, and wait for the green to breathe overhead. Wool blankets and cloudberry cocoa included.
Desert Zenith
Aoraki Mackenzie, New Zealand
The Southern Hemisphere's crown jewel — the galactic core straight overhead, the Magellanic Clouds low and bright, and an astrophotographer to make sure you keep it.
The Experience
No light pollution. No rushing. No small talk about work.
Our guides are astronomers, not tour reps — the kind who will happily argue about the age of a globular cluster at 3 a.m. Groups stay tiny so the telescope is always yours when you want it. And because weather is the one thing no one can book, every itinerary has slack built in: we move to the clear sky, not the schedule.
You bring curiosity and a warm coat. We bring the optics, the star charts, the thermoses, and roughly four billion years of context.
21.9
Darkest sky measured, mag/arcsec² (Bortle 1)
12
Travelers max, every single trip
7
Countries, all below 0.1 lux
1,300+
Nights guided since 2019
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“I have looked up my whole life. That night was the first time I felt the sky look back.”
— Nadia R., Aurora Passage · February expedition
The next new moon is closer than you think
Come stand under the real sky.
Seasons sell out a moon cycle ahead. Tell us where you want to lose the light and we'll send the next open dates — no deposit to hold your interest.
Request open dates