234 Ranch Road 1050, Concan, TX 78838, US
Night Skies - Did you know?
What’s going on in our night sky this April?
- A good meteor shower, the Lyrids, occurs the later part of April. They peak around the 23rd with a last quarter moon rising around 4am. Check timeanddate.com for moonrise times for other dates as Lyrid meteors can be seen from April 14th to the 30th. The radiant, the point in the sky where the meteors appear to be coming from, is near the constellation Lyra, and thus its name. Look for Lyra to be above the horizon just before midnight and the meteors that radiate from it.
- On April 1st a new moon occurred two days prior. This allows for some great star viewing with dark skies at the beginning of the month. April's new moon will be on the 27th. The full moon is on the 12th and is called the Pink Moon. Pink is the color of the phlox wild flower once prolifically seen in early spring by Native Americans.
- On April 1st, the skies get completely dark at 9:18 pm CDT. Morning light starts arriving at 6:08 am CDT. By April 30th, skies get fully dark at 9:40 pm CDT and darkness begins to fade at 5:32 am CDT. Check out the different sunrise and sunset times for Garner State Park at timeanddate.com .
- You will see planets: From a high viewing point, Mercury may be visible at sunrise through April; Venus will be an morning star through April. Mars will be mid-sky at sunset and sets an hour or two after midnight; Jupiter will be setting just before midnight; Saturn rises at sunrise in April. And if you have binoculars or a telescope, Uranus (mag 5.8) is setting just after evening twilight. Dim Neptune (mag 8) is unseeable, rising just after sunrise through April.
You can see a lot with your naked eyes or a set of binoculars.
This March around 9pm CDT, Gemini will be overhead. The big Dipper will be in the northeast. Leo and it's backwards question mark will be due east. Orion will be towards the southwest. To the west are the constellations Taurus, due west, Perseus, north of Taurus, and the Big-W of Cassiopeia, further to the north. With binoculars look to the east of Pollux in the constellation Cancer for the star cluster M44, the Beehive Cluster.
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. You might also listen to Sky and Telescope's monthly Sky Tour podcast. 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.
Start your April evenings by looking directly overhead in the evening sky and you will see the Big Dipper. Stars at the end of its cup point north to the North Star and south to the constellation Leo with its bright star Regulus. To the east is Spica, a star in the constellation Virgo. To the west is Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major. Setting in the west is the constellation Orion. As the night matures, look for the Milky Way to take center stage across the sky! With binoculars, view M4, a globular cluster a moon's width west of Antares, the bright red star in Scorpius. Scorpius is visible on the southern horizon after midnight. M6, the Butterfly Cluster, and M7, The Ptolemy Cluster, are also found in Scorpius. 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. You might also listen to Sky and Telescope's monthly Sky Tour podcast. 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.
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 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
Are you interested in astronomy as a hobby?
Check out this on-line article in The Buzz Magazines was published recently about amateur astronomy and features interviews with many Houston Astronomical Society (HAS) members. Joe Khalaf of HAS shared this.
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.
Notice
Exciting news! Our Visitor Center is open! The south side of the park is open too!
Coming events:
FOG Board Meeting 5/14/25, 5pm
Summer Hayrides
Easter Bunny Visits 4/19/25