Night skies: Four meteor showers later in the year are expected to bring tourists to the area.
Tourism businesses have seen an increase in visitors during the traditional "off-season" since the UK's first and only Dark Sky Park was awarded its exclusive status, it has emerged.
Galloway Forest Park became Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park in November 2009, during the International Year of Astronomy.
It involved every light bulb in the area being changed to downward-facing "dark-sky" bulbs, to stop light pollution. Forty-seven residents living within the confines of the park also agreed to change their own bulbs in support of the bid.
The pitch-black sky makes it an ideal spot for stargazers who can see the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, as well as all 18 constellations visible in the northern hemisphere.
The stargazing season runs during from October to March, and an economic impact report said as a result extra visitors have been pulled into the area during the off-season.
A total of 35 businesses in Galloway, including guest houses, bed and breakfasts, hotels and self-catering properties, were surveyed, with 77% reporting an impact on the number of bed nights as a result of the Dark Sky Park.
The Dark Sky Park Economic Impact Assessment, carried out for FCS, said £40,584 has been returned in "additional expenditure" as a result of an increase in visitors, meaning for every £1 spent on transforming the area, there has been a return on investment of £1.93.
Keith Muir, FCS's head of tourism and recreation in Galloway, said: "There's hotels running specialist weekends now on stargazing and they're already booked up.
"We're hearing more and more people talking to our staff out in the parks, saying that they're coming here and they're asking specifically about the night sky and where to go, and that has increased."
The next main event in the astronomical diary is the Perseids meteor shower in August. It is a steam of debris consisting of particles ejected by the comet Swift-Tuttle as it travels on a 130-year orbit.
In October, the Orionids shower is expected to last for about a week, followed by the Leonids in November and the Geminids meteor shower in December.
Mike Alexander runs Galloway Astronomy Centre, a bed and breakfast near Whithorn, which has an observatory in the grounds. He said they are already "full-to-the brim" over the weekend of August 12/13, when the Perseids shower is expected to take place.
He said: "Our area is probably one of the darkest there is, with a beautiful clear sky. The population in Dumfries and Galloway is very low and people create light, which reduces the number of stars we can see. So we have a broader array of objects to see and the most impressive thing is probably the Milky Way because it stretches from horizon to horizon. But there's also the sheer number of stars in between all the bright stars which make up the constellations."
