Look UP at Night: Feb 2-23 Best Evening Viewing of Mercury AND Guide to Visiting McDonald Observatory

Photo by Randy Mallory for the Texas Historical Commission

Locals and veteran travelers already know it:  Our region has a distinguished jewel in McDonald Observatory.  Located atop the Davis Mountains on the "Scenic Loop," it is a place visitors regularly put high up on their bucket list.  Intrigued?  Here's an EXCELLENT article about visiting the Observatory and taking in a couple of their public programs, from our friend, Sheila Scarborough of Perceptive Travel Blog. 

 

Click here to read the Observatory's webpage on visiting the facility.  Heading to the region for Spring Break?  Click here to see all the special Spring Break programming at McDonald Observatory.

The view of the Davis Mountains from
the top of McDonald Observatory
(click on the photo for a closer view!)

This month, we'll be treated to the best evening viewing of Mercury in a long, long time.  Read more here, from Weather.com.  An excerpt:  "Mercury, the "elusive" innermost planet, will travel far enough from the glare of the sun to be readily visible in the western sky, soon after sunset. On the evening of Feb. 8, Mercury will skim within less than 0.4 degrees of the much-fainter planet, Mars."