Kerry is the place to see the stars

It was a location for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so it’s no surprise that Kerry has been listed as one of the best star-gazing spots on the planet.

The county was ranked among the top 10 by travel publisher Rough Guides, in a list that includes the Chilean desert and a dormant volcano in Hawaii.

“Star clusters, nebula, and the Andromeda Galaxy are all visible to the naked eye in the unpolluted skies above the lush Kerry peninsula, which is flanked by the Kerry Mountains and the

Atlantic Ocean,” said Rough Guides.

Kerry has been recently named as an International Dark-Sky Reserve, thanks to the dazzling displays in its night skies.

These reserves, across the world, have been recognised for their clear skies.

The reserve is spread out over 700 square miles and

includes Kells, Folimore,

Caherciveen, Portmagee, Valentia Island, Dromid,

The Glen, Ballinskelligs, Waterville, Derrynane, and Caherdaniel.

Fittingly, Skellig Michael, which brought Luke Skywalker and the Force to Kerry, is also in the starry zone.

It is the first area in the Northern Hemisphere to

receive a Gold Tier Dark-Sky award from the International Dark-Sky Association.

The Rough Guides noted that Kerry’s stunning skies have been attracting people for millennia.

“Although its Dark Sky Reserve title is a 21st-century acquisition, inscriptions found on the region’s prehistoric monuments suggest that its inhabitants have been observing the planets for thousands of years,” said the Rough Guides.

“Today, guides use laser beams and telescopes to further enhance visitors’ views of the heavens.”

The other locations ranged from remote islands to national parks and deserts.

In the US, Death Valley was named as a magnet for star-gazers, thanks to its “desolate canyons, salt flats, and dunes”.

The night skies above the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and glacial Lake Tekapo, in New Zealand, are so crystal clear that the distant Magellanic Clouds are visible year-round.

The Atacama Desert, in Chile, is one of the “world’s leading sites for space observation”.

Thirteen huge telescopes occupy the summit of the 4,200m-high Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the southernmost Hawaiian

island, for scanning the universe.

Closer to home, the Brecon Beacons have “conditions clear enough to view meteor showers, nebulas and, more rarely, the Northern Lights”.

The Pic du Midi, in the French Pyrenees, is another favourite for astronomy lovers, along with the tiny, car-free Channel island of Sark, and the breath-taking NamibRand Nature Reserve, in Namibia.