Home Page

Dark Skies Festival April 22-26

In celebration of International Dark Sky Week (April 21-28), join McDonald Observatory and community partners for events showcasing West Texas’s famous dark skies. Events will be held April 22-26 at McDonald Observatory and locations throughout Fort Davis, Alpine, Marfa, and Terlingua.

Livestream April 16 at 9:15 p.m.: Dark Skies

Enjoy live views of several targets from the dark skies at McDonald Observatory! In celebration of the upcoming International Dark Sky Week (April 21-28) and McDonald Observatory's own Dark Skies Festival (April 22-26), your hosts Saul Rivera and Stephen Hummel will be exploring some targets that can be appreciated under dark skies while discussing the impact of artificial light. Join us at 9:15 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 16!

UT Astronomer Finds Smallest Brown Dwarfs Yet

The Flame Nebula, located about 1,400 light-years away from Earth, is a hotbed of star formation less than 1 million years old. Within it, there are objects so small that their cores will never be able to fuse hydrogen like full-fledged stars — brown dwarfs. Astronomers have long debated how small brown dwarfs can be. Now, a new study sheds light on this question by finding the lowest mass brown dwarfs yet.

New Energy Industry Guidelines Help Protect Night Sky

Protecting the night sky is a collaborative endeavor - one The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory has helped lead in West Texas since the launch of its Dark Skies Initiative in 2010. Now, oil and gas facilities in nearby New Mexico are joining the effort, with help from a new set of lighting guidelines tailored to their industry.

Work with the Stars! McDonald Observatory is hiring.

Work with McDonald Observatory

McDonald Observatory is currently hiring for positions located at the Observatory near beautiful Fort Davis, Texas. Join our team!