How to unlock the Astronomy Badge in Peak

Two scouts holding umbrellas in the mesa biome in Peak on the sand — (Image credit: Landfall / Aggro Crab)

It's important to think carefully about which items you're carting around with you on your expedition in Peak, but sometimes an achievement calls for you to carry something you don't really want to waste space on for a specific task. We've all tried to take Bing Bong from the plane crash to the peak, but more often than not, he ends up thrown over the side of a mountain. The Astronomy Badge tasks you with doing something similar, but don't worry, you won't have to deal with the guilt of abandoning a plush friend.

The description of the Astronomy achievement states you have to look a little too closely at the blazing sun, but that's about all the information you're given. Since the sun is beating down on you in a number of biomes in Peak, this isn't a lot to go off. But here's what you have to do if you want to add this badge to your collection.

How to unlock the Astronomy Badge in Peak

Before you head off to unlock this badge, make sure you've picked up the binoculars from the plane crash at the start of the game. These are essential to unlocking the badge, so if you've left them behind or you've lost them through the shore and tropics biomes, I'd recommend restarting. Once they're in your bag, you need to take them all the way to the mesa biome.

You'll take heat damage almost immediately once you're in this biome, which goes to show the sun really is blazing here. Take your binoculars out and use them to look directly at the sun. It's best to do this when you're on the ground of the map since you can get a clear view of the sun and you're definitely in the biome rather than standing by the campfire at the edge.

After you've stared at the sun for a decent amount of time, you should get the achievement notification in the corner of your screen. You won't get the badge until you've completed your run, whether that's because you've reached the peak or you've succumbed to an Antlion attack or various threats in the mesa.

But, as soon as you see the achievement pop up, rest assured, you should've unlocked the badge already. You can ditch the binoculars as soon as you've completed the challenge too. With so many things that can cause you damage in the mesa too, you'll probably want to get rid of them as soon as possible to make space for consumables.

Kara is an evergreen writer. Having spent four years as a games journalist guiding, reviewing, or generally waffling about the weird and wonderful, she’s more than happy to tell you all about which obscure indie games she’s managed to sink hours into this week. When she’s not raising a dodo army in Ark: Survival Evolved or taking huge losses in Tekken, you’ll find her helplessly trawling the internet for the next best birdwatching game because who wants to step outside and experience the real thing when you can so easily do it from the comfort of your living room. Right?

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