• 701 W US-90, Marathon, TX 79842

How Dark Is Dark?

Darkness is defined as a lack of illumination or an absence of visible light. For many if not most people, it has become increasingly difficult to find a dark sky to view beautiful celestial objects in the nighttime sky because of street lamps, neighbor’s lights and large cities’ light airglow.

Welcome to
Dark Texas Skies!

Your Portal to the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve

Our dark nighttime sky is located in a remote region of West Texas on the western side of Marathon, TX. Although our small community is located in the largest county in the U.S.A., we are surrounded by mountains which protect our night sky from light intrusion from neighboring towns.

Our nighttime sky is a Scale Class 1 on the Bortle light Pollution Scale. What does that mean? It’ is very dark!

At an elevation of approximately 4100 feet in a high desert climate, Dark Texas Skies boasts a very dark night sky. The inset picture below of Marathon’s location clearly indicates that our small community is away from the airglow of larger towns and cities.

Marathon Dark Sky

Photo Credit: William Ramey

As a Bortle Class 1 nighttime sky, we have earned an excellent dark sky reputation. Some of the features of this classification are:

 

  • Naked-eye limiting magnitude: 7.6 - 8.0
  • The Zodical light is clearly visible
  • The Gegenschein is visible
  • M33 is a direct vision naked-eye object
  • The Carina-Sagittarius bands of the Milky Way casts obvious shadows on the ground
  • The planets Venus and Jupiter are so bright that they affect dark adaptation

Some people cry when they see what they see for the very first time

TAKE ACTION

Darkness disappears at the speed of light. Please help us to keep our community and especially the Dark Texas Skies’ Visual Observatory area as dark as possible. Only with your help, darkness also can return at the speed of light too.

Learn How

The Clear Sky Chart below indicates what our seeing conditions are for tonight and the near future. At a glance, it indicates when the weather will be clear or cloudy for the next few days. Click on the chart for further information.

Clear Sky Chart for Marathon, TX

Courtesy of Clear Sky Chart

Get In Touch

Dark Texas Skies
Marathon Motel & RV Park
701 West US-90 Highway
Marathon, Texas 79842

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