234 Ranch Road 1050, Concan, TX 78838, US
Night Skies - Did you know?
What’s going on in our night sky this month?
- The Geminids Meteor Shower peaks on December 12th-13th. Moonlight will hide many of the meteors. Try watching after moonset prior to the peak. This is a reliable shower with bright meteorites.
- The moon passes near these notable celestial objects this December: 12/5 at sunset Venus; 12/8 near Saturn; 12/13 near Pleiades, 12/14 near Jupiter, 12/18 near Mars, 12/20 near Regulus; 12/24 near Spica.
- December 1st is the new moon. Mark your calendar for your best nights to view the sky with or without a moon. This December's full moon is on the 15th is called the Cold Moon.
- On December 1st, the skies get completely dark at 7:03 pm CDT. Morning light starts arriving at 5:52 am CDT. By December 31st, skies get fully dark at 7:15pm CST and darkness begins to fade at 6:08am CST. Check out the different sunrise and sunset times for Garner State Park at timeanddate.com.
- You will see planets: Mercury will not be visible until later in December rising near sunrise; Venus will be an evening star setting between 9 and 8 pm each evening. Mars will be mid-sky around 3 to 2 am; Jupiter will be mid-sky around 10 to 11 pm; Saturn sets around 10 to 11pm; and if you have binoculars or a telescope, Uranus set about 5 to 4 am; with Neptune setting midnight to 11pm.
You can see a lot with your naked eyes or a set of binoculars.
Start this December by looking for the Milky Way traveling across the sky from East to West. A little to the west of your zenith, you will see the bright star Deneb, in the constellation Cygnus, the swan, swimming westwardly along the Milky Way. Pleiades will be towards the east, Jupiter just a bit further to the east and later in the evening, Orion will be up in the eastern sky. Saturn will be overhead towards the west. With binoculars look at M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. For more celestial objects to see, check out the back of a current month's sky map at the Visitor Center. Look for a "Sky Tour" program given at the park occasionally when the skies are dark, and the weather is good. A good place to observe the heavens at the park is from the Excess Vehicle Parking Area. It's just north of the Visitors Center.
Eighty percent of the world population has never seen the Milky Way.
Seeing the Milky Way requires dark skies, skies that many don't ever see. Often before and after the new moon, while the moon is not shining, you can make out the Milky Way in our Garner skies. The Milky Way galaxy is made up of millions of stars. It is sometimes mistaken as a layer of clouds when first seen. The darker the skies the more magnificent the many stars stand out. Have you seen the stars from Garner State Park?
Our skies aren't as dark as they used to be.
New neighbors, new businesses install lights to light up their properties and light up the whole Frio Canyon in the process. From the top of Old Baldy, you can see light domes of Uvalde, Hondo, Bandera, Kerrville, and yes, even Concan and Leakey. Texas towns have their light bubbles. Do us all a favor, let them know, "Illuminate only what is needed with only as much warm light as is needed." If you see lights shining upward or too bright, let's do better. If you want to continue to see stars, tell them you want and expect darker skies. We can make our skies darker.
Count the number of stars in the Little Dipper. If you can see all seven, you have a dark sky. If you can only see the end of the little Dipper's handle, the North Star (Polaris), you have a lit-up city sky.
We are working on making our skies darker.
We want to make Garner an International Dark Skies Park. Unfortunately, it isn't currently dark enough. It takes some work, a real campaign. Educating our visitors, neighbors, students, businesses, and government officials; adding light shields; updating light fixtures; measuring, recording, and reporting light readings and other progress steps; getting the right color LED's; seeing what we can do to make the skies dark again. Interested in volunteering? Use the "Contact us" form at the bottom of the home page or call 830-232-5999.
You can help educate others to keep our skies dark.
Spread the word, set an example. Shine light only when and where you need it. Only shine as much as you need. Use the warmest color light to minimize light scattering. If light is needed for security or emergency purposes, use video or motion activated lighting.
Do we really need a blinding flood light lighting the heavens at every barn, parked car, business sign, steeple, or flag? Here is a link to the International Dark Sky Association's (IDA's) webpage of outreach materials.
Friends of Garner has a telescope
While the scope might not be a large spectacular instrument, it generates oohs and ahs when viewing Jupiter, Saturn, or the moon up in the Garner night skies.
Several astronomy clubs come to view the skies above Garner. Check the park's calendars for other star parties, often held on a warm Saturday night around the occurrence of a new moon when skies are at their darkest.
Notice
Our Visitor Center is currently closed for renovation and installation of new exhibits.
Coming events:
FOG Board Meeting 1/17/25, 5pm
FOG Annual Trail Clean Up 1/17-19/2025