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Nominate AstroTours.org for Outside’s 2027 Travel Awards
Outside is now accepting nominations for its 2027 Travel Awards, and we would be grateful for your help putting AstroTours.org in front of the editors as one of the adventure-travel companies and tour operators worth recognizing.
Outside says it is looking for the people, places, and companies making outdoor travel more inclusive, innovative, sustainable, and awesome, with a particular focus on travel that is nature-forward, active, adventurous, and immersed in the outdoors. Nominations close September 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT.
Why we’re asking
AstroTours.org started in Colorado in 2018 with a simple idea: bring the observatory to the place people are already exploring. Instead of asking travelers to visit a fixed facility, our astronomers take professional telescopes into the landscapes where the sky itself becomes part of the destination.
That mobile-observatory model has grown into guided stargazing experiences across Colorado mountain communities and destinations, private tours, resort programs, weddings, conferences, school programs, festivals, community events, and destination-wide science experiences. Every program is built around the place, the people, and the sky that night.
In 2026, we expanded that approach further with daylight astronomy, solar observing, spectroscopy, and programs such as Science in Snowmass, while continuing to build the AstroTours.org Foundation to expand astronomy access for youth and underserved communities.
For us, stargazing is a form of outdoor travel. It gets people outside after dark, gives them a reason to look closely at the environment around them, and turns mountains, deserts, ranches, resorts, and dark-sky landscapes into places of discovery.
How to nominate AstroTours.org
Open Outside’s nomination page using the button below. If the form asks you to nominate a travel company or tour operator, enter AstroTours.org and describe why you think our astronomy experiences deserve recognition.
The most useful nominations are personal. If you have joined one of our tours, worked with us at a destination, attended a public program, or simply believe astronomy belongs in the adventure-travel conversation, tell Outside what stood out to you.
Need help writing your nomination?
You are welcome to use the sample below as a starting point. Please change anything you want and add your own experience if you have one.
Suggested nomination copy
AstroTours.org deserves recognition in Outside’s 2027 Travel Awards because it has built a distinctive form of outdoor adventure around the night sky. Since 2018, the Colorado-based company has brought professional telescopes and working astronomers directly to mountain destinations, communities, resorts, schools, private groups, and public events, turning stargazing into an expert-led travel experience rather than a passive add-on.
Its mobile-observatory model lets travelers experience astronomy where the sky is best and connects each program to the landscape and people in front of the telescope. Guests might learn about tides with a fishing group, the origin of gold at a wedding, the scale of planetary years with families, or how distant light lets us look back in time.
AstroTours.org is also expanding what astronomy tourism can include. In 2026 it grew daytime programs with solar telescopes and spectroscopy, helped deliver destination-scale science programming such as Science in Snowmass, and continued developing the AstroTours.org Foundation to broaden access for youth and underserved communities. The company’s work encourages dark-sky appreciation, science literacy, and a deeper relationship with the outdoor places people travel to experience.
AstroTours.org is helping define stargazing as a genuine adventure-travel experience: place-based, expert-led, accessible to beginners, and deeply connected to the natural world.
Shorter version
I’m nominating AstroTours.org because it has created a distinctive outdoor-travel experience around astronomy. Its mobile observatory brings professional telescopes and astronomers directly to Colorado destinations, allowing guests to experience the night sky in the landscapes they came to explore. AstroTours combines science, storytelling, dark-sky appreciation, and place-based interpretation, while expanding access through public programs, schools, daylight astronomy, and the AstroTours.org Foundation. It is helping make stargazing a meaningful part of adventure travel.
Ideas to make your nomination personal
Describe a specific AstroTours experience you attended and what made it memorable.
Mention the astronomer’s ability to make complex science understandable and relevant.
Talk about seeing a planet, galaxy, nebula, star cluster, or the Milky Way through a telescope for the first time.
Explain how the program changed the way you experienced the landscape or night sky.
Mention the mobile-observatory model and the ability to bring professional astronomy directly to destinations and communities.
Highlight AstroTours.org Foundation outreach, youth access, public programs, or dark-sky education if those matter to you.
Use your own words. A short personal nomination can be more compelling than a long generic one.
The deadline
Outside’s public call for nominations says submissions are due September 30, 2026 at 11:59 PM EDT. The 2027 Travel Awards will be featured in print and online in Outside’s Spring 2027 issue.
If AstroTours has given you a memorable night under the stars, helped you understand the universe in a new way, or shown you that astronomy belongs alongside the best outdoor experiences, we would appreciate your nomination.
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