Night Skies - Did you know?

A new dark skies sign is available at the Garner State Park Visitor Center

What’s going on in our night sky this January?

ese🌠 Meteor Showers:

The Quadrantid meteor shower, one of the strongest annual displays, remains active from December 28 to January 12. Its peak occurs overnight between January 2–3, with a zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) up to 80 meteors per hour. Unfortunately, a bright Wolf Moon and supermoon around January 3 significantly will reduce visibility—expect fewer than 10 meteors per hour, mostly the brightest fireballs.

🌍 Solar & Seasonal Events:

Earth reaches perihelion—its closest point to the Sun—on January 3, roughly two weeks after the December solstice.

🌕 Moon & Celestial Neighbors:

Near constellations: On January 1, the waxing Moon passes close to Aldebaran in Taurus at dusk. Moon–Jupiter encounters: A lunar conjunction with Jupiter occurs on January 3–4 in Gemini. Another close Moon–Jupiter–Pollux grouping forms on January 30–31. Moon–Neptune–Saturn close approach: On January 23, the Moon, Neptune, and Saturn align in the evening sky.

🌑 Moon Phases:

January’s full moon peaks on January 3 at 10:02 UTC. Known as the Wolf Moon, it's also a supermoon, appearing up to ~30% brighter and ~14% larger due to its proximity to Earth. The new moon occurs on January 18 at 19:52 UTC, marking the darkest skies ideal for faint object viewing all night. From January 10th's last quarter moon until the new moon, Jan 8th, is the darkest sky for early evening viewing. From the new moon until January 26th's first quarter moon is the darkest sky for early morning viewing.

☀️ Sunrise & Sunset Times (Garner State Park, TX):

On January 1, 2026 first light is ~7:06 am, sunrise ~7:31 am, sunset ~6:11 pm, last light ~6:37 pm. On January 31, 2026 first light is ~7:03 am, sunrise ~7:28 am, sunset ~6:16 pm, last light ~6:41 pm.

🪐 Planet Visibility:

Jupiter reaches opposition on January 9–10, rising at sunset and visible all night. It shines brightly in Gemini near Castor and Pollux, making it the top planetary show of January. Saturn is visible in the southwestern sky after sunset until around 10 pm; magnitude +1.2. Uranus (mag ~+5.6) in Taurus is visible in the early evening and can be spotted with binoculars, located near the Pleiades. Neptune (mag ~+7.9) lies close to Saturn in Pisces and is visible through a telescope. Mercury, Venus, and Mars, all remain near the Sun during January and are not visible in the evening sky. Mercury and Venus are in superior conjunction; Mars is also hidden near the Sun.

You can see a lot with your naked eyes or a set of binoculars this January

🌌 Naked‑eye Highlights

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is a faint, fuzzy smudge of light in the constellation Andromeda, visible as early as 7–8 pm and highest ~53° above the horizon. Shining at magnitude ~3.4, it's the most distant object visible without optics and spans roughly three Moon‑widths. Orion Nebula (M42) is located in Orion’s “sword” below the three‑star belt, this glow (magnitude ~4.0) makes the middle “star” appear fuzzy—easy to spot from dark skies. Pleiades (M45) is a bright cluster in Taurus, often called the “Seven Sisters,” it’s visible as a small grouping of stars west of Aldebaran and Orion, standing out cleanly in winter skies. The Beehive Cluster (M44) is located in the constellation Cancer. Its hazy patch of magnitude ~3.7 stars is recognizable to the naked eye under dark conditions, appearing just before and around midnight in late January.

🔭 Binocular Highlights

View the Andromeda Galaxy with binoculars. The core becomes brighter and more defined, and nearby companions M32 and M110 may also become faintly visible. The Orion Nebula when viewed with binoculars expands beyond that single fuzzy star, revealing structure across the “sword,” especially when viewed near midnight from dark skies.

For more celestial objects to see, check out the back of a the 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. You might also listen the Sky and Telescope's monthly Sky Tour podcast. A good place to observe the heavens at the park is from the west side of the Excess Vehicle Parking Area that's just north of the Visitors Center. Stay clear of the construction work area on the southeast side.

Garner has a planisphere!

Look for it on the southside of the Visitor Center on the outside of the wall that hides the bathrooms. A planisphere is a rotating star chart that helps you identify stars and constellations visible in the night sky at any given time and date. It’s a classic tool for stargazers, especially useful in places like Garner State Park where dark skies make celestial navigation a joy. Dial in your date and time and have it tell you what stars are in the sky and which constellations are rising, setting, or overhead.

🧭 How It Works: A planisphere consists of two discs: the top disc has a window showing part of the sky, and the bottom disc has a star map. You rotate the discs to align the date and time, and the window reveals the stars and constellations visible overhead. It’s calibrated for a specific latitude range, so make sure yours matches your location (Garner State Park is around 29.7°N).

Leakey Highway Maintenance Center improves their lighting! Way to go TXDOT!!!

If you ever drove into Leakey from the north on US 83 at night, you were greeted by the blinding lights of the Texas Department of Transportation's (TXDOT's) maintenance facility. NOT ANY MORE! THANK YOU to Ms. Ginger Lux, the supervisor there, and others helping her in San Angelo, Austin, and elsewhere, TXDOT is now much more welcoming to visitors in the Frio Canyon. THEY HAVE INSTALLED DOWNLIGHTING on their facility. This makes the light bubble over Leakey and the Frio Canyon north of Garner State Park a bit less intrusive. Leakey TXDOT has more work to do, maybe add downlighting to their flagpole. They can be an example to all the TEXAS TXDOT facilities! The towns of Leakey and Concan both still have plenty of lighting challenges to overcome and now... TXDOT is showing the way!

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.

Help work to 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. Want to get involved in Dark Skies? Use the "Contact us" form at the bottom of the home page or call 830-232-5999.

Here is a YouTube link to an interesting presentation on keeping our skies dark in west Texas given by Steven Hummel to the Houston Astronomical Society members. It shows how the National Park Service is mapping our dark skies and measuring not just the darkness overhead but the intensity and spectrum of light all around that is being added to that of the stars, moon, planets, and weather amounts. Also note that the oil and gas industry has reduced its foot print in the Pecos area. Some installations reduced their sky glow 98%. Can we do this in the Frio Canyon as well?

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 are a few links to answer this question:

The International Dark Sky Association's (IDA's) webpage of outreach materials.

https://darksky.org/resources/

DarkSky Texas (IDA's Texas chapter)

https://darkskytexas.org/common-sense-solutions-resources/

Hill Country Alliance webpage on preserving the night skies

https://hillcountryalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021_THC_NightSkies_Paper_FYI.pdf

Night Sky Month

October was Night Sky Month and will be again next year. Check out our 2025 Night Sky poster. Add it to a yearly collection beginning in 2019. Write to info@friendsofgarner.org for poster information.

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.

We can offer sessions to let members get familiar with this and other telescopes. After a checkout, take the scope home or to a campsite, host a park star party, or to outreach events outside the park.

friends of garner state park

We help sustain & improve Garner Park for all generations.