The massed peaks of the Warrumbungle (“Crooked Mountain”) National Park in central New South Wales combine high altitude, low humidity, and zero population for excellent night-sky action. Hence the many telescopes, including Australia’s largest observatory at Siding Springs. Amateur astronomers make the pilgrimage 250 miles northwest of Sydney to see more than 6,000 stars with their own eyes and, in summer, the Magellanic clouds, two dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way.

Despite being one of Australia’s most popular tourist attractions, except for the main townships of Anglesea, Lorne and Apollo Bay this heroic coastal drive is largely deserted. Dense rainforests, some dating from Gondwanaland times, crowd a serpentine shoreline where dramatic cliffs meet the Southern Ocean and a star-packed sky. The headline—the 12 Apostles, a picturesque arrangement of limestone stacks anchored in the ocean—is most spectacular seen under the light of the moon and the Milky Way

Being an island at the end of the Earth and the gateway to Antarctica, Tasmania has even brighter, starrier skies than the mainland. It also has the aurora australis, the southern equivalent of the Northern Lights, which appears year-round but is most brilliant during the long, dark winters. The kaleidoscopic lights are visible throughout the island, but the further south the better. In the capital Hobart, vantage points include Mount Nelson and Kunanyi/Mount Wellington.

In an ancient land, an ancient rock glows beneath an ancient sky. Uluru, the vast sandstone monolith rising among the sandy plains of central Australia, is more than 9 km of living cultural landscape replete with sacred sites, rock art, and the dreaming trails of the Anangu people. The dreaming extends into the night skies, where low humidity and surrounding red sands mean constellations are highly visible. The Ayers Rock Resort runs dinners with an Indigenous expert to interpret the sky-show.

It doesn't get much more remote than Norfolk Island, the Australian territory marooned in the Pacific some 1,700 kilometers northeast of Sydney. The tropical island commune is known for year-round swimming and one of the planet's most southerly coral reefs. When night falls—hard and fast—the stars shine diamond-bright and feel close enough to count. Find a spot at Emily Bay or Cemetery Bay in the south, or atop the lofty sea-cliffs of Anson Bay to settle in for the spectacle.