The Star Partyers of New Mexico

“We live here because it’s dark,” Darrel Moon, an amateur astronomer, said of his slice of rural New Mexico.

Roughly six years ago, Mr. Moon built his own observatory to track asteroids in the dark skies above the Route 60 corridor between Pie Town and Magdalena in New Mexico.

He is one of the region’s many stargazing enthusiasts who have formed local astronomical societies. Many also throw star parties and advocate for dark-sky protections.

Viola Sanchez, a retired civil engineer, has volunteered with the Albuquerque Astronomical Society, or TAAS, for more than 10 years.

She often brings her eight-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope to share with budding stargazers like Annmarie Bustos who attend these star parties.

Regan Fallbach, 7, gazed through a Dobsonian Reflector telescope at the full moon, which she said looked “just like a night light.”

Star maps are the traditional way of finding points of interest, although these days most stargazers use mobile apps.

To locate items closer to the ground without ruining your ability to see the stars, it helps to use red light, as Joey Troy, another TAAS member, has found.

Eric Toops, a member of the Magdalena Astronomical Society, spotted Venus through a six-inch George Carroll telescope that was refurbished at the Astronomical Lyceum.

The Lyceum is run by John W. Briggs, an instrumentation engineer, who travels the country to repair vintage telescopes.

Mr. Briggs helps host the annual Enchanted Skies Star Party in Magdalena and works to preserve the area’s dark skies. He has seen the light domes from New Mexico’s cities grow bigger and brighter every year.