Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy to offer stargazing vacations

by John Farrell, Contributor, Forbes.com

It’s not often a scientist decides to start his own travel agency.

I’m exaggerating–it’s not a travel agency. But Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy and his wife Marcella Setter recently founded Science Getaways to set up trips around the world for people who’d like to travel to exotic landscapes–and learn from experts.

“When we visited the Galapagos Islands a few years ago,” he writes, “we discovered that learning about the natural history, geology, and biology of the islands greatly enhanced our appreciation of their beauty and made our visit much more memorable. Discovering more about your vacation spot always makes the experience better, and it was from this idea that Science Getaways was born.”

Plait has a degree in astronomy from University of Virginia. He worked for a stretch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center helping to calibrate the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In addition to his blog, he’s written two books, and lectures all across the country on science and science education.

The first official Science Getaways trip is for September: at the C Lazy U Ranch in Granby, Colorado. At an elevation of 8,300 feet, the ranch is located in a valley south of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Over the course of four days, guests will go on hikes and field trips with Plait; Holly Brunkal, a professor of geology at Western State College in Gunnison; and David Armstrong, former professor at University of Colorado–Boulder and a specialist in biogeography and ecology.

I’m hoping future Science Getaways take place during school vacation –so I can bring my kids.

Related Links:

New stargazer astronomy vacations from Science Getaways

Bad Astronomy blog on Discover Magazine's website

Hubble Space Telescope website