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 amateur astronomers the HAS has a novice presentation once a month, just before the general meeting (see the meeting schedule in the GuideStar newsletter). Recently, we have had presentations on:

• Planning Your Observing Session
• Alien Worlds & Mysterious Planets
• A Tour of the Spring Sky
• Observing Variable Stars
• How Good are Your Scope and Your Eyes?
• What’s New Under the Sun?
• Astronomical Sketching
• A Brief Tour of the Winter Constellations
• The Hertzsprung – Russell Diagram
• Archeoastronomy

The Houston Astronomical Society invites you to join us for the novice meeting at 6:30 p.m. on the regular meeting night of the society (see the GuideStar for the next meeting). We all learn something at the novice meeting!

Be sure to check out our collection of resources for the novice. This section is updated continuously!