LIFESTYLE AUTHOR
Dafne Villanueva
STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT n Need a break from the light pollution? Here is our list of the best places to go stargazing in Austin and Texas.
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ustin is well-known for various reasons, including its picturesque outdoor spaces such as Lady Bird Lake, Barton Creek Greenbelt and Zilker Park. However, finding a perfect spot to stargaze can be challenging because of the city and light pollution. Light pollution is becoming more common in our understanding of the ecosystem and environmental awareness. This kind of pollution doesn’t only affect humans in their night routine but also plants and animals. Plants and animals
JUNE 2022
rely on Earth’s daily cycle of light and darkness to regulate behavior patterns such as reproduction, nutrition, sleep and predator protection. Fortunately, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department aims to protect our dark skies and even records the night sky brightness in Texas state parks in a database. They use the Bortle scale rating to measure the luminance, ranging from one to nine — one being for very dark skies to nine for bright city skies. Luckily, we’ve compiled a roundup of the best places to go stargazing in Austin and Texas.
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Keep It Local
Because of the city lights, there aren’t many places to go stargazing in Austin, but there is a program within the 40 acres. The University of Texas at Austin has some fantastic programs for stargazing. For example, if you want to avoid traveling far to stargaze, the university has a program called Star Parties, which are public viewings of the stars and constellations hosted by the Department of Astronomy. On Wednesday nights, the 16-inch reflector telescope at the Physics, Math and Astronomy building is open. On Friday and Saturday nights, the 9-inch refractor at Painter Hall is open.
