McDonald Observatory

10/08/2026

The Draconid Meteor Shower is this week!

☄️☄️☄️ A meteor shower is a spike in the number of meteors or “shooting stars” that streak through the night sky. ☄️☄️☄️

The Draconids are an evening shower, peaking for us in the Americas tomorrow night, October 8th, through the wee hours of October 9th.

🌑 The Moon will be new, so it won't interfere with visibility!

More about meteor showers:
https://ow.ly/li7C50ZV90g

10/07/2026

✨ The McDonald Observatory is helping lead a NASA mission to study the dust between stars!

Learn about PUFFINS, (short for Polarimetry in the Ultraviolet to Find Features in INterStellar dust), and how new clues about tiny dust particles play an important role in how stars and planets form!

https://ow.ly/JxOu50ZVys8

10/07/2026

October 4 - 10 is World Space Week 2026 — The global celebration of space exploration!

Commemorating the beginning of the Space Age with the launch of Sputnik 1, on Oct. 4, 1957, World Space Week unites communities worldwide in a shared celebration, inspiring the next generation of space enthusiasts!

More than 50,000 events are occurring across 100+ countries - Find out more!
https://www.worldspaceweek.org/

10/06/2026

Fall Migration, meteor showers, a special livestream, and so much more — Check out McDonald Observatory's October SkyTips!

Email from McDonald Observatory SkyTips October 2026   McDonald Observatory SkyTips News from the Observatory and StarDate   Creepy crawly image courtesy of Joshua B. Santana Now on StarDate Radio S

09/27/2026

📣 Appreciation post!

✨ We'd like to take a moment and say thank you to Alpine ISD for installing new, dark-sky compliant lighting at Kokernot Field!

⚾ The new lighting at the historic baseball field is directional and shielded to prevent light from going directly into the sky, cutting light pollution by over 70% compared to the old lighting!

⏲️ Their lighting system also features controls to help ensure lights are on only when needed, helping save energy!

🏆 Kokernot Field's new lighting is a BIG WIN!! 🎉

🔗 Learn about our Recommended Lighting Practices:
https://ow.ly/n2NC50ZRyCw

09/26/2026

🌕 The Moon is full today. But it’s not just any old full Moon, it’s the best-known of them all - the Full Harvest Moon!

🪐 Tonight, the planet Saturn is quite close below the Moon at nightfall, and stays close throughout the night. It looks like a bright star.

09/25/2026

✨ More job opportunities with the McDonald Observatory have been posted!

There are positions listed in West Texas as well as on the gorgeous main campus of The University of Texas at Austin! 🤘

🔗 Find out more and apply here:
https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/jobs/

09/25/2026

🌕 The Full Harvest Moon is this weekend!
It will reach peak illumination at 11:49 a.m. CDT on Saturday, September 26, but it will appear full for nearly 3 days!

🌾 The Harvest Moon is the full Moon occurring nearest to the autumnal equinox. Before electricity, farmers depended on bright moonlight to extend the workday beyond sunset.

Get outside and look up this weekend, and show us your Harvest Moon pics!

09/24/2026

Katrina Miller, award-winning science reporter for the The New York Times, is giving a free talk next week at The University of Texas at Austin | RSVP deadline is today!
🔗 https://ow.ly/QkPP50ZR0k6

Katrina will speak about her pivot from science research to reporting on science.
Hear how she crafts her own stories and thinks about the current responsibility and future role of science journalism!

✨ While visiting the Big Bend region, reporting on International Dark Sky Week earlier this spring, Katrina and photographer Emily Elconin spent some time with us at the McDonald Observatory learning about dark energy!

Please enjoy this 🎁 article all about their trip | Dark Skies and Dark Energy Converge at a West Texas Star Party!
🔗 https://ow.ly/RuBp50ZR0N7

09/22/2026

Today is the September Equinox!

🍂 Happy first day of autumn to the Northern Hemisphere, and happy first day of spring to the southern half of the globe! 🌷

☀️ The equinox marks the exact moment when the center of the Sun crosses the plane of our planet’s equator. 🌎

The Sun crosses the equatorial plane during the September equinox, and continues traveling south until the December solstice, when it heads back north again.
In fact, some folks refer to the March equinox as the 'northward equinox', and the September equinox as the 'southward equinox'.

🌍 Wherever you are on Earth today, Happy Equinox! 🌏