Skip to main content

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.

What members are saying... 2025 05 23

These members are saying...

  • Heather Charron - Here is my imaging setup.
  •  
  • John Benner - 5/19/2025 Data I collected last month during the full moon on M101 the target of the month. OTA Celestron Edge HD 1100 on iOPtron Cem70 with .7 focal reducer. Camera ASI2600 mm. HaRGB. 50-180 sec exposures on each filter for a total of 10 Hours of data. I had to dump the Luminance data. Too much moon for it. Processed in Pixinsight.
  •  
  • Mike Hooper - 5/20/2025 - M39 in Cygnus. 60-30sec exposure. Taken in Animas NM with Askar 103 APO at 700mm on EQ6R Pro mount. This was taken last Wednesday as my test shot working remote. Three firsts: shooting M 39, shooting remote and using NINA/PDH2. The Asiair is so easy to use compared to NINA.
  •  
  • Mike Hooper - 5/22/2025 - IC 4603 part of the Ophiuchus Cloud in Ophiuchus but near Antares in Scorpius. Shot last night in Animas NM with my Askar 103APO and ASI2600MC Pro. 5 hours of 120sec subs. RGB with camera built in filter.
  •  
  • Kenric Kattner - May 22, 2025 - Here's the CDk20 shooting the Southern Tadpoles in Chile. The reddish nebula in the Milky Way is the Great Carina Nebula. The Tadpoles are just to the left of that. Also, the orange glow is actually airglow which you can see when it’s really dark and the camera is Ha modified. You can see waves of the airglow on the lower right. You can tell I'm a bit bored tonight.
  • Forgot to point out the Southern Cross. Just to the upper right of the Coal Sack.

 
 

 

 

US Dark Sky County

This Is the First U.S. County to Be Fully Dark Sky Certified.

Teton County in Wyoming just became the first county in the world to be certified as an International Dark Sky Community.

To see the article click here.

June 2025 - Night Sky

June 24, 2025 - Morning sky

H.A.S. Library Telescope Loaner Program - April 14, 2025

The H.A.S. Library Telescope Loaner Program is restarted!   Members in good standing for at least 2 months may borrow any available scope for 30 days (with optional loan renewal for a total of 60 days).  The loaner program telescopes come with Nightwatch by Dickinson, an excellent resource for novice observers.   Also check out “Whatsouttonight.com” for a monthly free all sky map.   In addition, scopes (except SeeStar) come with two eyepieces, and finally an optical finder and/or a Telrad or similar unit power finder.  Send an email with your name and phone number to [email protected] to initiate a loan.

 The following telescopes are available to borrow via the Telescope Loaner Program:  

  • #10 Orion SkyQuest XT8 8” f/6 dob (NEW) 
  • #12 Zhumell 10” f/5 focal ratio dob on a custom wood base.
  • #21 Zhumell 8” f/5.9 focal ratio dob
  • #35 Orion Astroview 6” f/5 newtonian on an EQ mount adjusted to alt-az. 
  • #40 Seestar (details to follow) 

More 8” and 10” dobs to be available soon as well as a solar scope. AND Now we have Vortex Diamondback HD 8x42 Binoculars available to borrow.

Jim Haley
Telescope Chairperson