Today’s West Texas Talk guest is Bill Wren of the McDonald Observatory, who has spent years helping communities and developments design outdoor lighting systems that cast light on the ground instead of projecting it into the sky. Dark skies are necessary for McDonald scientists to recognize details deep in the universe.
Now a new threat looms. Recent announcements from Apache Corp. suggest a massive new oil field – and all the lights it will bring – will begin developing in Reeves County just north of the Davis Mountains home of the observatory.