Perseid Meteor Shower Parties at Hueco Tanks and Franklin Mountains State Park!

Join us for a Perseid Meteor Shower Party from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday, August 11 at Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site, 6900 Hueco Tanks Rd. #1, El Paso, Texas 79938.
Rangers from Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site and Franklin Mountains State Park will lead presentations and activities about the Perseid meteor shower, constellation folklore, and our vanishing dark skies. Then, view the cosmos through two provided telescopes or sit back and enjoy the meteor shower! Participants should bring a flashlight, folding chair or blanket, and water.

Reservations are required, and will be taken until the program is full. Call 915-857-1135 or 915-849-6684 for information and reservations. $2 ages 5 and up.

A Perseid Meteor Shower Party is also scheduled for 8:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, August 9 at Franklin Mountains State Park’s Tom Mays Unit.
- See more at: http://texasmountaintrail.com/events/perseid-meteor-shower-party#sthash.v41F0yq9.dpuf

Hikers at Hueco Tanks have a full view of
the sky for the Perseid Meteor Shower,
they're just there a little early in the day!

Join us for a Perseid Meteor Shower Party from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday, August 11 at Hueco Tanks State Park &Historic Site.

Rangers from Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site and Franklin Mountains State Park will lead presentations and activities about the Perseid meteor shower, constellation folklore, and our vanishing dark skies. Then, view the cosmos through two provided telescopes or sit back and enjoy the meteor shower! Participants should bring a flashlight, folding chair or blanket, and water.

Reservations are required, and will be taken until the program is full. Call 915-857-1135 or 915-849-6684 for information and reservations. $2 ages 5 and up.

A Perseid Meteor Shower Party is also scheduled for 8:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, August 9 at Franklin Mountains StatePark’s Tom Mays Unit.

The listing for the event on our calendar is here.

Join us for a Perseid Meteor Shower Party from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday, August 11 at Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site, 6900 Hueco Tanks Rd. #1, El Paso, Texas 79938.
Rangers from Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site and Franklin Mountains State Park will lead presentations and activities about the Perseid meteor shower, constellation folklore, and our vanishing dark skies. Then, view the cosmos through two provided telescopes or sit back and enjoy the meteor shower! Participants should bring a flashlight, folding chair or blanket, and water.

Reservations are required, and will be taken until the program is full. Call 915-857-1135 or 915-849-6684 for information and reservations. $2 ages 5 and up.

A Perseid Meteor Shower Party is also scheduled for 8:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, August 9 at Franklin Mountains State Park’s Tom Mays Unit.
- See more at: http://texasmountaintrail.com/events/perseid-meteor-shower-party#sthash.v41F0yq9.dpuf

Marathon: Darkest Night Skies from the Comfort of Your Hotel Room!

click on the photo for a closer view
photo by Danny Self, Marathon Motel

Marathon is often the first community travelers drive through to get to Big Bend National Park…yet some don’t stop, and that’s a shame.  Not only does this small community boast the darkest skies you’ll find anywhere in the lower 48 (rated Scale 1 on the Bortle Light Pollution Scale!), but with accommodations to suit every taste and need, and easy access to restaurants, it is a great transition place between your city life and the frontier and open spaces of the Big Bend. 

Consider what a wonderful night you’d have, grabbing a beer and pizza from the French Company Grocer or Lechuguilla Liquors, or a fine meal at the 12 Gage Restaurant.  Then stopping by the Marathon Motel to view a sky like THIS?  What could be better than that?

What the photographer, Danny Self, says about this photo:

“What I liked about this, during the day, this angle, you get a sense of the curves in the walls flowing with the curves of the hills. At night, it comes out with a different complexity of, colors, textures, depth and size. Not to mention the contrasts in exposures! So, to the naked eye, the Milky Way looks like a perpetual 'cloud' in the same place every night, albeit coming up earlier as time goes by. All stars/constellations rise 4 minutes earlier every night. Now, the camera, the camera can see what the eye can't. Hence a really distinct image. So don't expect to go out, find the Milky Way, which isn't hard, unless you're in a light polluted sky, and, even in a Class 1 dark sky like ours, expect to see it this way!”

Next time you plan a trip our way, consider staying in Marathon!  “Like” the Visit Marathon Texas page on Facebook and check out their website too:  www.visitmarathontexas.com to plan a stay in a great small town with the darkest skies!

Light Map of the Region from
VisitMarathonTexas.com website, Big Bend has been
awarded the designation of Gold Tier Sky Park as
recognized by the International Dark-Sky Association!

Visit Marathon Texas is one of our valued Texas Mountain Trail Business Members!

Orion Rising...

Here's another image from the wonderful 2013 Big Bend Calendar our friend, Derrick Birdsall is selling to celebrate both Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, AND send a portion of the profits back to our own Texas Mountain Trail!

Big Bend National Park has been cited by the International Dark-Sky Association as one of just five international dark sky parks earning its gold-tier level for being nearly entirely free from light pollution.

The Houston Chronicle wrote a brief article about the designation awhile back, which included some other impressive photos of the clear sky.
To learn more about the calendar, click here.

Derrick's photography blog is here.

Last night's moon

We have the darkest, clearest, beautiful night skies!  Many thanks to our friend, Monte Riggs of Marfa for this lovely image of last night's moon!

McDonald Observatory at Dawn

Astronomers work all night at McDonald Observatory's Hobby-Eberle telescope, among the world's most powerful.

Our thanks to Pete S. for sharing this wonderful photograph of McDonald Observatory.  Stay tuned all week for Pete's photos of sights from Fort Davis to the Observatory!