Nighttime Etiquette

Dark Texas Skies is a dark sky venue. When attending one of the star parties, all white light must not be used, including vehicle lights, flashlights, camera flashes, phones or tablets. White light quickly diminishes everyone’s ability to see at nighttime. A few helpful guidelines follow.

If you must use a light, use only a red light.

An inexpensive red light may be purchased at the Marathon Motel & RV Park’s office during business hours if you do not have one. While using the red light, do not point it at anyone’s eyes, but instead point it down toward the ground when in use, and try to use them sparingly.

Warn others if a red light must be used.

Sometimes we may accidently drop something and cannot find it on the ground. Please ask one of the star party’s hosts to help you if you do not have a red light. They will use their red light to help you to find what has dropped on the ground. Under no circumstances is a white light to be used.

Don’t take flash photography after sunset.

This seems obvious, but is easy to forget when you want to take a group shot or the perfect selfie. If you wish to take a picture, please arrive early and take all the pictures you wish before the star party begins. An option is to learn nighttime photography that does not require added light. Please set your smartphone’s flash to “off” if you plan to use it.

Park your vehicle away from the observing site.

Headlights are the worst, but even backup lights or interior dome lights can quickly erode night vision. Park your vehicle away from the observing site, such as at the Cantina or on the west side of the property.

Watch where you walk.

Because of the diminished light, it is easy to stumble in the darkness. Our Dobsonian telescope mounts have extended arms. They are marked with glow-in-the-dark tape. While walking on the observatory deck, please do not be looking up, but downward toward your feet. This common sense principle is easy to forget at times because of our awesome dark skies and the thousands of stars we can see!

Don’t run.

Please never run on the observatory deck. We do not want anyone to trip on something and fall. Remind your children to do the same.

Children should not wear light-up-sneakers and adults their sport watches.

Whereas light-up-sneakers may have seemed a good idea at the time to keep track of your children at nighttime, at star parties they are not a good idea because of the white light they emit.

Likewise, adult sport watches are illuminated with white light. Our dark skies are dark. Any white light will not only hamper your eyes from achieving dark adaptation, but everyone else’s around you as well.

Help everyone to enjoy their visit to a dark sky. We are here because we left the city lights behind to enjoy the darkness and delight in the enchanting worlds far, far above us.

Starlight, star bright,
Wish I may, wish I might,
See you in a dark, dark sky tonight.

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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.

Thank You!

Nighttime Etiquette

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