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Welcome to Houston Astronomical Society

Fostering the science and art of astronomy through programs that serve our membership and the community. Founded in 1955, Houston Astronomical Society is an active community of enthusiastic amateur and professional astronomers with over 70 years of history in the Houston area. Through education and outreach, our programs promote science literacy and astronomy awareness. We meet via Zoom the first Friday of each month for the General Membership Meeting and the first Thursday of the month for the Novice Meeting. Membership has a variety of benefits, including access to a secure dark site west of Houston, special interest groups that focus on particular areas of astronomy, an active community outreach program, and much more. Joining is simple.

John Paul Landing - Outreach narative

Dan Roy and Don Adams write...

I had been driving for over one hour, cursing at aggressive drivers, irritated seeing that traffic around here is even worse in my (Dan Roy) native Paris, France. But then, I turned onto West Road and followed the GPS calls. All of sudden, I was on a lazy winding road among the most gorgeous and serene environment.  A beautiful prairie, a few trees, lots of flowers, a serene 170+ acre reservoir.  I pulled into the parking lot of a pristine cottage of the kind you only see in movies.  I had arrived at John Paul Landing’s Environmental Education Center that also serves as the main office.  I was taken by the radiating peace of the place. All that, only a few miles from Houston traffic!  You don’t see that in Paris.

Now I understood why our friend Don Adams had been speaking and observing there for over a year. He had warmly recommended his contact there, Bobby Martin, an astronomer and born educator. I was not disappointed.  Bobby’s enthusiasm is contagious.  He puts together monthly meetings (on the second Saturday of the month) in his idyllic cottage with an invited speaker, a local audience of 40-100+ (half of them kids) and follows the talk with practical handy work for the kids and telescope observing for all.

 

Although he is open to discussing any subject, Bobby likes to focus the talks on one constellation at a time.

I was particularly impressed by the assignment he gives to the children. He has them make a constellation projector out of a toilet paper roll.  One end is covered with a print of the main stars of the constellation of the night and then pierced with a thumb tack where the stars are supposed to be.  Put a flashlight at one end, direct the other at the ceiling, you have a wonderful projection of the constellation on the ceiling!

 

Don has now moved on to other projects but we both agree that HAS should build on his achievements and leadership at John Paul Landing Park.

I am looking for speakers who can captivate naïve audiences without being condescending or too technical. Don says the events are a great experience and fun adventure.  Also, Coordination with the Constable’s office enables observing hours that go beyond park closing hours if necessary.  There are always at least 2 on staff on astronomy night. The park’s staff also turn off the parking lot lights for the event.  The actual observing site is located on a series of paved trails just outside the north side of the building with direct access into the building and its restrooms available the entire evening.  The building, along with a small hill to the west, blocks direct light from other parts of the park.  The night skies here are Bortle 7 and the views at night are always a pleasant surprise and a welcome change from the bright lights just three or four miles away.  Dimmer stars pop into view and constellations become much easier to find and recognize.  Planets are easily tracked down and the views of the Moon are always a special part of every event.  This is a dark site in the Houston area best to be experienced rather than read about. Come on out and check it out!


Finally, we absolutely love the idea of constellation projectors and we encourage all to try that on your kids. BTW, are there other projects that could motivate kids to look at the sky?  Let us know.

Ad astra.

Don dradams2@yahoo.com and Dan danroy@stpp.com

HAS Monthly Meeting Video - Friday July 12th at 7:00 pm CT

“Bringing Astronomy and Science Education to Kosovo

 

By:  Pranvera Hyseni

Over 20 years ago, a young girl living in Kosovo discovered astronomy and despite the chaos and brutality of the country’s war for independence was so taken by it that she decided to make it the center point of her life. Following her passion, Pranvera Hyseni, currently a Ph.D. student in Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, has spent much of her energy to help others in her home country become inspired in the same way.

Pran’s dream of bringing a world class observatory and astronomy educational facility to Kosovo was recently realized with the grand opening of  the National Observatory and Planetarium in Shtime, Kosovo. Along the way she has inspired many, established key relationships, and made many friends who are sure to continue to work and support the observatory.

To see the video, click Bringing Astronomy and Science Education to Kosovo.

HAS Novice Video - Thursday July 11th at 7:00pm CT

“Gems of the Summer Sky”

 

A person standing in front of a snowy mountain

Description automatically generated

 

By: Chris Morisette

Summer offers a wide array of fascinating objects for viewing.  In “Gems of the Summer Sky” Chris Morisette shows how we can continue to use The Big Dipper, as well as adding “The Summer Triangle” and “The Teapot” to our repertoire of navigation signposts to help us find and observe some wonderful star clusters and nebulae.

In addition, a short supplement entitled “An Introduction to Variable Stars” will be presented.

To see the video, click Navigating the Summer Sky.

Get to Know Your HAS...

Here is some information about the different committees within HAS. Check back often for more articles.

7/17/2024

Astrophotography Special Interest Group - We host monthly Zoom meetings focused on deep sky astrophotography and scientific imaging, including spectroscopy and photometry. Utilizing equipment such as DSLRs, astro cameras on GoTo mounts, or star trackers, our meetings provide an open forum to exchange insights, share lessons learned, and celebrate successes. Each month, we introduce a new astrophotography challenge to inspire and engage participants. Our community welcomes everyone, from absolute beginners to highly advanced enthusiasts, regardless of skill level! Hosted by Matt Boerlage and Erica Coenen.

6/18/2024

Education and Outreach - The purpose of the Education and Outreach committee is to inspire minds of all ages with the wonders of the cosmos. We have a couple of monthly events where we show a model of the solar system, we bring laptops to demo free astronomy software and handouts from the Astronomical League, a list of relevant URLs, educational flyers, maps of the moon (courtesy of our friends at LPI) and science mags free for the taking. We bring our scopes and give talks to schools, libraries and even Space Center Houston on request. We help families select a telescope, set it up or even fix it when needed. We work one-on-one with educators and have plans for a teacher's workshop since astronomy is the gateway to STEM. We are “eager to teach if we are called upon, be taught if we are fortunate” ( Kurt Waldheim). There is so much to do. So come on, outreach and touch someone, join us! This committee is chaired by Dan Roy.

6/17/2024

Novice - Amateur astronomers do what they do because they want to do it, because they are interested in how the universe works. Most of us are not professional astronomers, and most of us have no formal training in astronomy. We all start somewhere, and we’re all novices at some level. To meet the needs of novice astronomer HAS has a novice presentation at 7 pm the first Thursday of each month. In addition a periodic “Novice Lab” is held at the HAS Dark Site in order to help newcomers learn how to navigate the night sky and practice finding objects.  The program is coordinated by Chris Morisette.

 

What members are saying...

What we've heard members say...

9/4/2024

  • Rich Wilbourn says: This is the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, NGC6888. I shot about an hour of 2-minute exposures at the HAS Dark Site and the remaining 3 1/2 hours at Casa Vista AirBnB outside of Leakey, Texas.