It isn’t just a song lyric: Deep in the heart of Texas, the stars at night really are big and bright. West Texas boasts the largest International Dark Sky Reserve, located in the greater Big Bend area. The darkness is due, in part, to a combination of low humidity, high elevation, and—most crucially—distance from cities and their ever-present light pollution, which hides the vast majority of the heavens from the human gaze. That confluence of factors makes Fort Davis’ McDonald Observatory one of the finest in the world, and Big Bend National Park is recognized as one of the darkest parks in the country.

But you don’t have to drive all the way out to West Texas to see the stars. “Texas is so big that, in spite of our huge population, most of the people and the light pollution that we all create is concentrated in the cities,” says Chris Sneden, an astronomer who has worked with the McDonald Observatory for 27 years. “There’s a vast amount of Texas that is very, very far from sources of light pollution.” Drive 15-30 miles outside a city or town on a clear night with just a pair of binoculars, and citizen astronomers can see a remarkable array of constellations and stars. 

“Take a rather modestly sized telescope and get away from the city,” Sneden says. “It really is as simple as that.”

10

Number of
constellations visible in the night sky year-round in Texas

33 FEET

Width of the McDonald Observatory’s Hobby-Eberly Telescope, one of the largest optical telescopes in the world