Loading The Sky Tonight…
The moon's phase and the hours of true darkness over Marfa for the next two weeks — the best nights to see the stars, with where to go and what washes them out.
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Marfa sits inside one of the darkest skies in North America. On a clear, moonless night the Milky Way is easy to see with your own eyes.
Tonight
Waxing gibbous
86% lit
| Night | Moon | Dark hours | Stargazing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun, Aug 23 | 🌔 86% | 8.2 h | Fair |
| Mon, Aug 24 | 🌔 92% | 8.2 h | Fair |
| Tue, Aug 25 | 🌔 96% | 8.2 h | Poor |
| Wed, Aug 26 | 🌕 99% | 8.3 h | Poor |
| Thu, Aug 27 | 🌕 100% | 8.3 h | Poor |
| Fri, Aug 28 | 🌕 99% | 8.3 h | Poor |
| Sat, Aug 29 | 🌖 95% | 8.4 h | Poor |
In 2022 the land around Marfa became the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve — the largest dark-sky reserve in the world, stretching across the Big Bend region and over the border into Mexico. High, dry desert air and very little light for a hundred miles in most directions make for exceptional stargazing.
Forty minutes north, in the Davis Mountains, the McDonald Observatory runs public star parties several nights a week — a naked-eye sky tour and a look through big telescopes. It's the closest thing to a guided night sky anywhere near town.
Source: Astronomical computation (sun and moon position); dark-sky context from McDonald Observatory and Visit Marfa, checked July 3, 2026 (last month).
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| Sun, Aug 30 | 🌖 90% | 8.4 h | Poor |
| Mon, Aug 31 | 🌖 82% | 8.4 h | Poor |
| Tue, Sep 1 | 🌖 73% | 8.5 h | Fair |
| Wed, Sep 2 | 🌗 62% | 8.5 h | Fair |
| Thu, Sep 3 | 🌗 50% | 8.5 h | Good |
| Fri, Sep 4 | 🌗 38% | 8.6 h | Good |
| Sat, Sep 5 | 🌘 27% | 8.6 h | Good |
Waxing gibbous
Best night to go: Sat, Sep 5