Star Party!
You can’t go to Dark Sky Country and not attend a Star Party at the McDonald Observatory! I mean, technically you can, but could you then say you really experienced Dark Sky Country? The McDonald Observatory is located on some mountain tops near Davis Mountains State Park, Fort Davis and Marfa. It’s a part of the UT system and as we found out during the Star Party, they have a lot of partnerships around the world including Texas A&M with whom they are partnering on some cutting-edge technologies. They are also helping to build what will be the worlds biggest land based telescope with a 25M lens called the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile.
We’ve been trying to get out here for around 15 years to attend one of the Star Parties and while planning this southwest loop trip we deliberately planned to be here for a good long time over the new moon so the viewing would be at it’s best. The event cost $25 per person and included a presentation in their open air amphitheater behind the welcome center followed by an opportunity to view 4 different objects in the night sky. For us since we had a large group, they had 8 telescopes split among the 4 objects to keep the lines down. We were able to see Jupiter, Mars, the Orion Nebula and two galaxies that appear close enough together that they are both visible in one telescope - M81 & M82.
The sky had cleared as we got closer to 6 pm but there were some clouds coming in from the west as the presentation went on. They went over the rules, how to view through the telescope, safety items and the like and then the presenter launched into a tour of the night sky’s constellations but if you didn’t want to stay for that part you could head out and start viewing. Kim and I decided to slip out to the telescopes with a small crowd so the lines were very short and we wanted to be sure to get some good viewing should the clouds move in.
As I’ve mentioned before, this time of year isn’t the best time to view the Milky Way Galaxy since we are currently looking out towards the rim of the galaxy at night so the number of stars is much smaller and you won’t see the quintessential Milky Way smear across the sky. The best time to come out is late summer according to the presenter when we will be looking towards and through the center of the galaxy with it’s amazing number of stars. We’ll have to return during the late summer someday to get a glimpse of that awe inspiring sight. I’ve seen the photos but there’s nothing like experiencing it first hand!
If you want to attend a Star Party you have to sign up well in advance (like several months) because they sell out quickly! Even if you aren't someone who loves astronomy, these presentations are very interesting and you are certain to learn a lot!
