234 Ranch Road 1050, Concan, TX 78838, US
Night Skies - Did you know?
What’s going on in our night sky this September?
🌠 Meteor Showers: September brings the minor Alpha Aurigid meteor shower, Aug 23 to Sept 6, peaking around September 1st. Though not as prolific as summer’s Perseids, it can produce brief outbursts of fast-moving meteors. Expect best viewing in the early morning hours, away from moonlight. Garner’s dark skies offer a great chance to catch a few streaks if conditions are clear.
🌞 September 22nd marks the Autumnal Equinox, when day and night are nearly equal in length. It’s a symbolic shift into fall, and a great time to observe how the angle of sunlight changes across the landscape during sunrise and sunset.
🌕 Moon & Constellation Pairings: On September 5th, the waning gibbous Moon passes near Jupiter in the eastern sky after midnight. Around September 10th, look for the Moon near the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus — a beautiful pairing in the pre-dawn hours. Late in the month, the Moon glides through Sagittarius, offering a chance to spot the Teapot asterism and the dense star fields of the Milky Way’s core.
🌝 Full & New Moons: Full Moon: September 7th — known as the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the equinox. It rises early and shines bright, illuminating the park’s trails and riverbanks. New Moon: September 21st — ideal for deep-sky observing. With no moonlight interference, this is the best time to view faint objects like nebulae and galaxies.
🌅 Sunrise & Sunset Times: September 1st: Sunrise at ~7:12 AM, Sunset at ~7:55 PM CDT. September 30th: Sunrise at ~7:30 AM, Sunset at ~7:17 PM CDT. Days gradually shorten, and twilight arrives earlier — perfect for evening stargazing without staying up too late.
🪐 Planet Visibility: Jupiter: Dominates the eastern sky after midnight, rising earlier each night. Bright and unmistakable. Saturn: Visible in the southeastern sky after dusk, especially prominent in early September. Look for its golden hue. Mars is low in the morning sky and fading in brightness. It's best seen just before dawn. Venus: Still a brilliant morning star, rising in the east before sunrise. Mercury: Difficult to spot this month due to its proximity to the Sun.
If you’re planning a visit to Garner State Park, consider timing it around the new moon on September 21st for the clearest views of the Milky Way and deep-sky objects. And if you’re up for a challenge, try spotting Uranus or Neptune with binoculars or a telescope — they’re out there, just waiting to be found.
You can see a lot with your naked eyes or a set of binoculars.
Look for these naked-eye highlights: The Milky Way’s core dazzles across the southern sky on moonless nights, revealing dense star fields and cosmic dust lanes. The Teapot asterism in Sagittarius serves as a celestial pointer toward this galactic center, easily recognizable and rich with lore. The Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest galactic neighbor, appears as a faint smudge in the northeastern sky later in the month—an awe-inspiring sight considering its 2.5 million light-year distance. In the pre-dawn morning, the Pleiades star cluster rises in the constellation Taurus, offering a compact grouping of young blue stars that shimmer like diamonds.
With binoculars, two additional gems are viewable. The Lagoon Nebula (M8) near Sagittarius glows with star-forming activity, its pinkish hues and embedded clusters revealing the dynamic nature of stellar birth. Meanwhile, the Wild Duck Cluster (M11) in Scutum presents a dense field of stars, resembling a glittering swarm in flight.
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 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.
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. 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
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.
Friends of Garner
River Clean Up:
Sept. 13, 2025
9AM at the pavilion
Coming events:
FOG Board Meeting 9/8/25, 5pm