234 Ranch Road 1050, Concan, TX 78838, US
Night Skies - Did you know?
What’s going on in our night sky this February?
🌠 Meteor Showers:
There are no active meteor showers easily seen from our latitude. But there is always the stray meteor. Go out and look, you may see satellites or the International Space Station (ISS). April will bring us the Lyrids and eta Aquariids.
On February 1, the Snow Moon rises fully illuminated. That night, the Moon passes near M44 (Beehive Cluster) in Cancer. Late January leading into Feb 1: In the early morning of Jan. 31, the Moon appears near Jupiter, forming a triangle with Castor and Pollux in Gemini. This remains relevant to early‑February sky watchers.
Feb 18: The Moon makes notable close approaches to Venus, Mercury, and Saturn low in the early evening sky.
🌑 Moon Phases:
Full Moon:
February 1, 2026 — the Snow Moon (also called Bear Moon, Hungry Moon, Storm/Ice Moon in various traditions).
New Moon: February 17, 2026 — coincides with an annular solar eclipse (not visible in Texas).
Last Quarter: February 9
First Quarter: February 24
☀️ Sunrise & Sunset Times (Garner State Park, TX):
February 1: Sunrise ~7:25 AM, Sunset ~5:40 PM (day length ~10 hrs 14 min).
February 28: Sunrise ~6:57–7:00 AM range and Sunset ~6:17–6:20 PM, with day length increasing gradually throughout the month as Texas moves toward spring.
Major Event: Six‑Planet Parade (Feb 21–28).
A rare celestial lineup of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune becomes visible along the western horizon just after sunset, best between Feb 21–28 around 6:45 PM. Easiest naked‑eye planets: Venus (brightest), Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury (low).
Require binoculars/telescope: Uranus, Neptune. Window is short: Mercury and Venus set 30–45 minutes after sunset. Jupiter & Uranus remain visible longer into the night, with Jupiter high among Gemini and Uranus near Taurus before setting after midnight. Mercury greatest elongation east: February 19 — making it more observable in evening twilight. Feb 18–19
Moon interactions: Moon passes close to Venus, Mercury, and Saturn, helpful for locating those planets shortly after sunset.
You can see a lot with your naked eyes or a set of binoculars this February
🌌 Naked‑eye Highlights
On clear February nights at Garner State Park, four beyond‑our‑solar‑system wonders become excellent targets. First is the Andromeda Galaxy, positioned just above the Great Square of Pegasus and easily found from the Andromeda constellation; it appears as a faint, elongated glow under dark skies. Second, the Pleiades star cluster (M45) in Taurus shines high overhead, presenting a tight grouping of blue‑white stars. Third, the bright winter constellations offer stellar beacons such as Rigel in Orion, which burns brilliantly in the southeast. Fourth, Capella in Auriga—one of the brightest stars in the sky—dominates the northeastern region and is an excellent landmark for winter stargazing.
🔭 Binocular Highlights
With binoculars, two deeper and richer beyond‑solar‑system objects stand out. The Pleiades (M45), while visible without aid, becomes dramatically more detailed through binoculars, revealing dozens of tightly packed stars. Additionally, on February 23, the Moon makes a close approach to M45, offering a convenient reference point for locating this iconic cluster. Together, these naked‑eye and binocular targets provide a rewarding tour of our galactic neighborhood, highlighting some of the brightest and most accessible deep‑sky objects visible from Texas during mid‑winter.
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
Coming events:
February 3, 2026 New Playground Cover in Shady Meadows Area
March 11, 2026, Business Meeting, 5:00 p.m., Garner State Park Visitor Center.
Night skies in February
Spring Break - Volunteers needed for Hayrides