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.

"Night and Astro Photography – A Universe of Possibilities"

By: Chris Morisette

If you’ve ever been interested in photographing our cosmos, please join us for “Night and Astro Photography – A Universe of Possibilities”. Here we’ll survey the equipment and techniques used to capture beautiful and inspiring images of our night sky. The highlight will be when several contributors present some of their fantastic images along with a description of the equipment used! Resources and advice on getting started will also be discussed.

This presentation will be a wonderful compliment to last month's novice meeting on selecting the right telescope!

Speaker Bio: Chris Morisette is HAS Novice Chairperson and an active member of the Houston Astronomical Society, North Houston Astronomy Club, and the Fort Bend Astronomy Clubs. He is also a member of the University of Texas Astronomy Department Board of Visitors. On clear Saturday nights you may find him volunteering at the George Observatory engaging visitors and sharing his love of the night sky, or you may find him at the HAS dark site trying his hand at astrophotography.

To see the video, click Night and Astro Photography – A Universe of Possibilities.

HAS Picnic 2025 at Dark Site

“Modern Astronomy Research - DATA DRIVEN!”

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By: Dr. Jimmy Newland

Modern astronomy research has become data driven. Using data science techniques alongside computation allows us to interrogate data to understand astrophysical phenomena. The explosion of data sets has opened up new ways for enterprising amateur astronomers to contribute to modern astronomical research. Data can come from large-scale surveys, space-based observatories, individual scientists, or students. You can learn to select, reduce, visualize, and interpret authentic astronomical data while applying data science techniques to construct astronomy knowledge. Many free web-based tools are available that leverage data science techniques. This talk explores how these activities bridge the gap between data science and astronomy concepts, enabling amateurs to learn about both astronomy and data science simultaneously.

Speaker: Jimmy joined HAS around 2006. In 2008, Jimmy founded an astronomy course at Bellaire High School, which he taught up through 2024. Several of his students presented their astronomy projects at HAS meetings.

Jimmy left the classroom after completing his Ph.D. in physics education at the University of Houston. He is developing resources for integrating computing and data science into K-12 courses like astronomy for the Texas Advanced Computing Center through UT Austin

To see the video, click Modern Astronomy Research - DATA DRIVEN!.

" Introduction to Telescopes and Getting the Right One from Santa"

By: Will Sager

Christmas is the time of year that many people think of buying a telescope, either for themselves or a present for a loved one. It is also the time of year that bad telescopes come out to tempt the neophyte with amazing claims of power and reach. In this presentation, I will be assisted by some knowledgeable HAS regulars and we will cover the basics of telescope types, their mounts, how they operate, and what they are good at. We will show some actual, real telescopes as examples and introduce the HAS loaner telescope program. In the spirit of the holidays, we will also give insights about what makes a good telescope present.

Speaker Bio: Will Sager is a professor of geophysics at the University of Houston. Unfortunately, he lives close to the university at the center of the Houston light dome. He received his first telescope (a 6-inch Criterion reflector) for Christmas at the age of 10, many, many years ago. Over the ensuing 6 decades, Will has owned many telescopes.

To see the video, click Introduction to Telescopes and Getting the Right One from Santa.