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Located in some of the most remote places on the planet, astronomical observatories aren't the easiest places to reach. Furthermore, many are set at altitudes thousands of meters above sea level. Yep, stargazing is an out-of-the-way science for most of us. But if you're curious, there's another way of reaching for the stars.

Browse this gallery and take a stellar tour of some of the best spots on Earth to observe the night sky.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 4.0)

▲Located at the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on Big Island, Hawaii, are several astronomical research facilities and large telescope observatories. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

▲Set in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and at an altitude of 4,205 m (13,796 ft), Mauna Kea is one of the best locations on Earth for ground-based astronomy.

▲Noted as the second-best location for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere after Mauna Kea, this observatory is on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.

▲Pictured is the MAGIC telescope at Roque de los Muchachos. Effectively a huge mirror, it detects particle showers released by gamma rays.

▲An astronomical observatory located at the edge of the Atacama Desert, La Silla is set in one of the driest and most isolated places in the world. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 4.0)

▲Located far from sources of light pollution, scientists are able to enjoy one of the darkest night skies on Earth. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

▲The national center for optical and infrared astronomy in South Africa, this observatory's primary telescopes are located in Sutherland.

▲Numerous telescopes are operated by the observatory, including two known as Solaris-1 and Solaris-2 (pictured), which detect circumbinary planets. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

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Perched at the top of Kitt Peak in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert, this observatory boasts 22 optical and two radio telescopes—the largest and most diverse gathering of astronomical instruments in the Northern Hemisphere. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

▲Set at an altitude of 2,096 m (6,877 ft), astronomers enjoy observation time of 260 nights per year.

▲A huge radio telescope sunk into a lush, hilly landscape, Arecibo is operated by the University of Florida. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

▲It's from here that in 1974 an interstellar radio message was beamed into deep space in the hope that extraterrestrial intelligence might receive and decipher it.

▲Located at Coonabarabran in New South Wales, this facility was formerly known as the Anglo-Australian Observatory. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

▲Its telescope, however, is still called the Anglo-Australian Telescope, rating among the world's most scientifically productive.

▲Set in the country's remote Ladakh region, this observatory has one of the world's highest sites for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes.

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The facility is situated at an elevation of 4,500 m (14,764 ft), and operates two telescopes: the Himalayan Chandra Telescope and the High Altitude Gamma Ray Telescope.

▲Established in Edinburgh in 1896, this hallowed astronomical institution carries out research and university teaching. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

▲While expanded and modernized over the years, the original 19th-century building includes two cylindrical copper domes on top of the East and West Towers. The East dome shelters a reflector, the West dome an astrophotographic telescope. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

▲A popular Los Angeles tourist attraction, the Griffith Observatory houses a planetarium that was used to train WWII pilots in celestial navigation and, later, Apollo program astronauts. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 2.5)

▲The fabulous views afford visitors their own stargazing opportunities—Hollywood style!

▲Staying with the stargazing theme, do you remember the 1997 movie 'Contact,' when Jodie Foster's character detected an alien signal? It was filmed here.

▲Located near Socorro in New Mexico, the observatory's 27 radio telescopes each stand 25 m (82 ft) and are visually stunning. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0)

▲Clustered in northern Chile's Atacama Desert are 66 radio telescopes constructed on the 5,000-m (16,000-ft) elevation Chajnantor plateau. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

▲The telescopes are tasked with providing insight on star birth and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 4.0)

▲This facility is based at one of the most extreme locations on the planet—the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station.

▲Designed to map the Southern sky, the telescope is 10 meters (394 inches) in diameter. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

▲The Very Large Telescope (VLT) facility is located on the Cerro Paranal mountain in the Atacama Desert. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

▲The VTL consists of four individual optical telescopes, named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun—all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

▲Inaugurated in 1859, this heritage-listed astronomical observatory and meteorological station functioned until the early 1980s.

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Today, this fully-restored Sydney landmark serves as a museum and cultural venue. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 2.5)

▲Founded in 1897, this observatory, located at Williams Bay, Wisconsin was regarded as "the birthplace of modern astrophysics."(Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Yerkes ceased operation in 2018, but, while closed to the public, researchers still have access to the vast historical glass plate archives at the site. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)