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.

7:43 AM 3/11/2023 Multiple Saturday evening forecasts show mostly clear!

Event: Messier Mini-Marathon. Log sheets available. Dob Shed Café open. Telescope operator on C14 for viewing Messier objects, planets, Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF).

Weather: Good sources to check Saturday morning for conditions Saturday night are weather.com, cleardarksky.com, and astrospheric.com. Sunset 6:31pm; moonrise 10:39pm. Multiple Saturday evening forecasts show mostly clear!

Rules: Light windows are 10pm and 12midnight. Light etiquette rules apply.

The Dob Shed Café will be open. Feel free to bring a favorite to share. I've been told I'm bringing a Texas sheet cake. (Hmm, how will I keep the milk cold? Guess I'm bringing ice, too)

The HAS observatory will also be open. Rene will be your telescope operator (TO) running through half the Messier list on the C-14. Stop by to check your observations...or check mine;) I'll also slew to requests; just bring RA & Dec coordinates. Hey, want to try the comet again? We saw it in much worse conditions last month.

Constellation tour at twilight. Joe will be conducting a tour of the skies. Don't miss it if you're new to the night sky. Twilight is a great time for planets and satellites. Log them for your HAS TX45 list.

Charles Messier in his prime — Charles Messier

Why you might want to visit the dark site on partly cloudy nights

You're new to the club, want to check things out, and it's good weather for overnight camping
You want to practice setting up your equipment in preparation for clearer skies
You can look through the observatory C14—the bigger the aperture, the more you can see
You want a piece of Texas Sheet cake and a glass of milk

See you soon at the dark site!

Rene Gedaly
Field Trip & Observing Chair
fto@astronomyhouston.org

Hello, Deep Sky Enthusiasts!

Let's attempt half the Messier list from 7pm - midnight Saturday, March 11 at the HAS dark site. Light windows are 10pm and midnight. Please review your light etiquette rules...

The Dob Shed Café will be open. Bring a favorite to share. I've been told I'm bringing a Texas sheet cake. (Hmm, how will I keep the milk cold? Guess I'm bringing ice, too)

The HAS observatory will also be open. I'll be your telescope operator (TO) running through half the Messier list on the C-14. Stop by to check your observations...or check mine;) I'll also slew to requests; just bring RA & Dec coordinates. Hey, want to try the comet again? We saw it in much worse conditions last month.

Twilight is a great time for planets and satellites. Log them for your HAS TX45 list. Someone (Joe) will no doubt keep us informed of celestial happenings.

Fingers crossed for good weather. We won't cancel unless it's just too cloudy.

Rene Gedaly
Field Trip & Observing Chair
fto@astronomyhouston.org

HAS Monthly Meeting – via Zoom

Friday March 3^rd at 7:00pm CST

HAS Astronomers Doing Science

A Panel Discussion

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One of the very cool things about being an amateur astronomer is that even with amateur sized telescopes, our eyes, or our amateur cameras, we can do real science that is of benefit to the Pros! Several HAS members have been contributing to the body of astronomical observations and knowledge over the course of many years. Others are just getting started, and so can you!

Walt Cooney will moderate a panel discussion where several HAS members will tell you a bit about the science they are doing. Panelists and their topics are:

Will Young - Observing Sprites - The Spritacular Project – recording atmospheric sprites’
Chris Ober - Cataclysmic Variables – with the Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA) and the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO).
Michael Rapp - Variable star visual observing with AAVSO.
Brian Cudnik - Sunspot Counts and variable star observing with AAVSO.
Don Selle – Cameras for All-Sky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) – Texas network.
Walt Cooney - Operating a remote research telescope – The Madrona Peak Observatory’

Each of the panel members will give a brief description of the work that they are doing, and also will answer questions from those attending the meeting.

Join us for what promises to be an interesting and informative discussion!

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This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. In order to attend, you must register for the meeting. You can do so using the link below. You will receive a email with the details of the meeting and a link that will allow you to join in.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIofuqprTgsGtLE3P141OSLt6Qnaj8LxT6z

You only need to register once!

Join us Friday, March 3, 2023 at 7:00 pm CST. See you then

Every telescope must be set up and adjusted properly before it can be used productively. For those starting out in astronomy or who are unfamiliar with a particular type of scope, this can be challenging to say the least. When the telescope fails to do what one expects, disappointment and frustration can set in.

Never fear intrepid StarGazer! Your fellow HAS members are here to help!

Join Joe Khalaf and Tim Pellerin as they walk you through the process of setting up your telescope and getting it ready to serve you dutifully for an excellent night of observing. They will show you their approach to getting set up, answer your questions an even share with you the secrets you need to know to avoid those dreaded Operator Errors.

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https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkdO6prj4uGtT1zQUVjEQcsMuGsKW02grF

You only need to register once!

Join us Thursday, March 2, 2023 at 7:00 pm CST. See you then!

In good company, you are, as you spend your time here with members. Here is one: Leland Dolan. Leland stayed with us a long time but he had to go away to where we all will go one day. Leland thought highly of us, has left a gift for us.

Let us be worthy. Let us continue this endeavor.

Thank you, Leland.

A Midsummer Astronomer’s Daydream, featured in this edition, was written by Leland - Kay McCallum, Guidestar editor

reprinted from the September 1987 GuideStar

Perhaps one reason I was picked as historian, is that I tend to dwell a lot on the past. I still think of my early years as an amateur astronomer as the “good old days”. The chief difference between, say 1960 and now, is that I could observe a number of Messier objects from my yard, and yet I lived only a quarter mile from the University of St. Thomas. For observing or photographing the Milky Way, I would spend the night at my parents’ home, only a couple of miles west of Memorial Park. Nowadays, to go anywhere where one can observe deep sky objects, requires that two or three hours be spent travelling to and from the observing site.

But, Let’s take a look into the next century. No this article is not going to be a “downer” but an imaginary view of what might be possible in the future. WARNING: This article is perhaps outrageously speculative, and will not appeal to the hard-bitten realist. But, for those who like to dream, dream along with me.

It is the summer of 2005 and, in spite of the serious light pollution, there is widespread interest in astronomy and (especially) space. Professional astronomers are now using several medium-sized telescopes on the moon, while awaiting completion of two large multi-mirror telescopes to be located near the east and west lunar limbs respectively. No, astronomers do not travel to the moon to observe but operate these instruments from their labs by remote control. This is an outgrowth of the way spacecraft were operated to photograph during the late Twentieth Century.

With these techniques being perfected, amateur astronomical societies are now building telescopes in remote locations, and operating them from their society’s “clubhouses”, usually in a central location. The golden anniversary of the Metropolitan Houston Astronomical Society, (formerly known as the Houston Amateur Astronomy Club and later, the Houston Astronomical Society), is approaching and everybody is excited especially since the society has just acquired, thanks to the generosity of a wealthy benefactor, a forty-inch reflector, which is being installed on the slopes of Mauna Kea. This is the last totally unpolluted observing site in the United States. And it was only through an agreement worked out with developers that, by allowing them to have all of Oahu, the “big island” was preserved from commercial development.

Access to the new telescope will be by reserving time, as is customary with most observatories. There will be little “real time” observing, however, since midnight in Hawaii occurs at 4AM Houston time. So, astronomers program the computer inserting one’s personal identification code and, at the allotted time, the instrument records the image, just as TV viewers recorded programs on VCRs twenty years earlier. Then, at the astronomer’s leisure, the image is processed to bring out details, something only professionals did during the Twentieth Century.

Activities include comet hunting, which seems less romantic now, since an area of the sky is simply “photographed” with an image device (that makes the first CCD look like a toy) and the computer compares previous exposures of that area and reports any anomalies. With this technique amateurs have discovered numerous asteroids and even faint novae.

But, there are still those amateurs who like to gaze up into the firmament, just for pure inspiration. For them, there is the Texas Star Party, now in its third decade. No longer do they bring sophisticated telescopes but rather Dobsonians, RFTs and just plain old-fashioned binoculars. In today’s complex world, there is nothing that refreshes the soul like viewing the constellations at low power, or even with the naked eye. This is something that our technological world has nearly robbed us of.

This article was typed by me as written with no changes to the original text. Any typos introduced during the typing process are my doing. Many long-time members of the HAS will remember Leland, newer members may not. He continued to attend HAS meetings at the University of Houston and participate in the activities of the organization until his passing.

This issue of the GuideStar (9/1987) also includes an Observatory Corner article and other items of interest to current HAS members. So, more to come.

Clear Skies to all;

Bill Pellerin, former GuideStar editor, former HAS President.