NPS photo

A visitor to the park peers at the night sky through a large telescope during a star party held in the summer of 2006.

Night sky viewing can be excellent, however, a mist can often set in in the early morning hours clouding the areas of the sky closest to the horizon, but leaving the area directly overhead clear.

Light pollution from Corpus Christi can interfere somewhat with night sky observations in the northern end of the park, but only with constellations or objects in the lower regions of the northern and north-northwestern portions of the sky. At five miles below the Malaquite visitor center there is minimal interference and this decreases as one travels south.

Astronomy Night programs will be held once from December to April 2008. As December approches please Follow this link to the park's events schedule to find out the specific dates.