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 June?

June has the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. On the 21th we are at our summer solstice. The earliest sunrise will be about June the 14th at 6:38 am and the latest sunset will be about June 29th at 8:43pm. For more dates and times, visit the Garner sun tables at TimeAndDate.Com .
The beginning and end of June are full moons, 5/31 and 6/29. The June full moon is called the Strawberry Moon. The new moon is about June 14th and around then will be the better time for looking at the stars. For more dates and times, visit the Garner moon tables at TimeAndDate.Com .
On the 15th, Mercury is in the west 25 degrees above the horizon at sunset. Venus is in the western sky at sunset. Mars rises about 2 to 3am in the morning. Jupiter is setting at 9 to 10pm. Saturn is rising about 1 to 2am during June.
June 12th, or a few days before and after, look for Mercury Venus and Jupiter in a line above the northwestern horizon, a half-hour to an hour after sunset.
June 19th the Beehive Cluster is just .7 degrees below Venus.

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

Overhead you should see the Big Dipper overhead just a bit towards the north. "Arc (by following the arc of the Big Dipper's handle) to Arcturus, spike (continue) to Spica", and "crow" (again continue 8 degrees) to the constellation Corvus, the crow. Arcturus, Spica, and another star, Denebola, to the west in the constellation Leo, form the Spring Triangle, a large equilateral triangle. In the eastern sky as the night progresses and the Milky Way rises higher into the sky, three other bright stars, Vega, Altair, and Deneb, rise to display the Summer Triangle.

With your binoculars, a globular star cluster M13, the Hercules Cluster, in the constellation Hercules, halfway between Vega and Arcturus.

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 to 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 is considering applying for a Dark Sky Certification

A group, including Friends of Garner the Garner and our park interpreter ranger, is pursuing Garner becoming an International Dark Sky Park. Garner was visited by a Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) Sustainability Resources team out of Austin this April for some direction. This is lengthy process, taking four years or more. It involves finding a DarkSky Texas delegate, TPWD approvals, a pre-application, fees, assessments, inventory of our lighting, on-going night sky quality surveys, on-going public education and awareness, and then application. Come join us!

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 contact Jacob Resendiz, Park Interpreter Ranger 830-232-6132 or Terry Berkstresser 713-492-1563.

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 (FOG)

We help sustain & improve Garner State Park for all generations.