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 60 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, a telescope loaner program, and much more. Joining is simple; you can sign up online or by snail mail.
As astronomers, citizens of this Earth, there is no more challenging or critical issue facing us than access to dark skies. DarkSky advocates represent the single best way to protect and enhance our knowledge base of the universe while simultaneously protecting the environment.
When we host star parties, there are usually larger crowds in attendance than we have volunteers to support them. Last week at John Paul Landing Park, just north of Katy, sometimes I had as many as twenty people in line at my one position. Usually, I didn't even have a moment to look around at what the other volunteers were doing. Guests would ask about the other telescopes and what they were observing. I simply did not know because I was busy with my group...but, I did point out they were aimed in some other direction from mine, which was generally enough to pique their curiosity.