The programs at the McDonald Observatory Frank N. Bash Visitors Center are great fun and fine value, especially the night-time Star Parties; even during Spring Break, the absolute peak of annual visitation to the area.
If you are planning a visit to the Davis Mtns, check the McDonald web site at
http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/visitors/programs/#SpecialViewing for any "Special Viewing Nights" that might be on the schedule. When available, they fill quickly, so check the website as soon as you know you are headed that way, if astronomy interests you.
The availability of these Special Viewing Nights varies & depends on the professional astronomer demands on the 107-inch Harlan J. Smith Telescope, the 82-inch Otto Struve Telescope, and the 36-inch telescope. A Special Viewing Night program on any of these telescopes will be fun and offer excellent views of various astronomical objects. But the very best views are at the 36-inch telescope.
The quality of the visual view at an astronomical telescope depends strongly on the state of the atmosphere. Astronomers talk about "seeing". Good seeing = the atmosphere is stable above the telescope's location; bad seeing = a turbulent atmosphere. Images are crisp and steady in good seeing; murky and changeable in bad seeing.
In W TX, the very best astronomical seeing occurs in the summer, a time of year when clear nights are less common owing to the monsoon. The worst astronomical seeing occurs in the winter on the spectacularly clear, very cold nights immediately after the passage of strong cold fronts. It's easy to confuse seeing and transparency, but they are different. If the stars are "twinkling" strongly to the naked-eye well above the horizon, the seeing stinks.
An aside: McDonald Observatory is the best astronomical site in the continental US. The best astronomical site anywhere in the US is Mauna Kea, a 14,000 ft elevation mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii. And the best astronomical sites in the world are in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
Another aside: A "107-inch telescope " has a primary mirror with a diameter of 107-inches. The ability of a telescope to see fainter / further / better depends on its light-collecting ability, which depends on the area of the primary mirror. But smaller telescopes often offer the best visual views of astronomical objects. LONG story.
Sorry for the length of this ramble. Hope this is helpful.
