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.

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

The Target of the Month (April 2025) - The famous Antenna Galaxy. The next AP SIG zoom call on Wednesday April 23rd (7:30pm) - for the link, look for the next HAS SIG meetings email.

Saturday, we had a blast at the Kleb Woods Nature Reserve Astronomy Night – and thanks to the volunteers who helped on short notice, it turned into a superb star party!

This HAS outreach event started with a talk by Erica and Matt on how you measure distances in the universe – a response to a question from one of the young participants at the previous event. We explained the cosmic distance ladder, covering Radar, Parallax, Cepheids, Supernovae, and Redshift. Bats, firetrucks, and thumbs came in handy to walk the kids through how these things work. We measured out cosmic distances by putting the printed numbers on the floor, and there was a lot of excitement when we reached 13.7 billion light-years. Our now-famous Q&A session was just as exciting, as our participants demonstrated unbounded curiosity.

Equipped with star charts, we moved on to the outside star party. Kleb Wood Park is secluded among trees, with a dark enough sky to clearly see the constellations. Thanks to Mark, Ron, Bob, and the loaner telescope Jim arranged for us – we were well-equipped. A 25-inch Obsession with a night vision eyepiece, a 12-inch Dob with a Pi-finder, and the 8-inch Orion equipped with Bob’s eyepiece spectrograph. We showed nebulae, planets, moons, star clusters, and Sirius’ Balmer lines.

It was wonderful to share our excitement about the universe, as both our young and more experienced participants were equally captivated. Kleb Woods Nature Reserve events are quite special; we only have four events per year, and the park is open by exception for Astronomy Night. We now enter our summer (and mosquito) break, but we will return in September. Thank you to our telescope volunteers in particular – the equipment, skill, and excitement you brought to the event turned this into a cosmic spectacle!

Matt & Erica

“Navigating the Spring Sky”

With: Chris Morrisette

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April marks the beginning of Galaxy Season. In “Navigating The Spring Sky” Chris Morisette will present various references and methods to help you find your way around the cosmos. In particular we’ll see how we can use The Big Dipper as a “sign post”, which will allow us to find and view several beautiful celestial objects, including some very cool galaxies.

Also… upcoming Novice Labs will be discussed.

Our Speaker: 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 with visitors and sharing his love of the night sky, or you may find him at the HAS dark site trying his hand at astrophotography.

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To see the video, click Navigating the Spring Sky.

“Keeping Dark Skies Dark in the Texas Big Bend Region”

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By: Stephen Hummel

Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator, UT Austin McDonald Observatory

Dark skies, free from the influence of light pollution, are increasingly difficult to find in the modern world. Today, even some of the most remote areas of the world once thought untouched from civilization's glow are beginning to be impacted by light pollution. In this presentation, Stephen Hummel will discuss efforts to protect the night sky around McDonald Observatory and the Big Bend region, one of the last remaining areas of dark skies in Texas. These efforts have culminated in the creation of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, currently the largest area in the world certified by DarkSky International.

Speaker: Stephen Hummel is the Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator for the McDonald Observatory, a remote research campus of the University of Texas at Austin. His work has focused on preserving dark skies in the Big Bend and Permian Basin regions of Texas through responsible outdoor lighting practices. In his spare time, he is an award winning astrophotographer with a specialty in rare electrical phenomena above nighttime thunderstorms.

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To see the video, click Keeping Dark Skies Dark in the Texas Big Bend Region.