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.

Houston Astronomical Society

Dear Members,

It's my pleasure to report to you that our slate of candidates presented by the Nominating Committee was unanimously approved by the membership vote. Congratulations to all who were elected to serve in 2024!

Officers:

President	Stephen Jones
Vice President	Mark Ferraz
Secretary	Don Selle
Treasurer	Bonnie Neuren

Directors:

Director-at-Large	Bram Weisman
Director-at-Large	Doug McCormick
Director-at-Large	Walt Cooney
Director-at-Large	Chris Morisette
Director-at-Large	Rene Gedaly
Director-at-Large	Celsa Canedo

Committee Chairpersons:

Observatory	Chris Ober
Audit	Bill Flanagan
Education & Outreach	Dan Roy
Field Trip & Observing	Walt Cooney
Membership	Celsa Canedo
Novice	Chris Morisette
Program	Don Selle
Publicity	Bram Weisman
Telescope	Harry Wright

For those of you stepping away, thank you for your service to the club. You've done an immeasurable duty for our members, including all of us here. Your time and dedication is certainly appreciated.

Joe Khalaf
President - Houston Astronomical Society
[email protected]

This is the notice of the annual meeting of the Houston Astronomical Society. During this meeting, the slate of nominees as presented from the Nominating Committee during the October General meeting will be put on the ballot and other nominations from the floor will be taken. Instructions on how to vote will be provided during the meeting and disseminated to all members via email afterwards.

"Total Eclipse Texas – A Once in a Lifetime Event"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxAZAEnRx9U

A person with a beard

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George Ellis, speaker

Total eclipses of the sun are one of the world’s most amazing natural phenomena. This talk will attempt to engage those who have never seen a total eclipse to take full advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime event over Texas on 4/8/2024. Even the Texas Star Party will be migrating from its usual format to host eclipse enthusiasts on the center line near Aquilla, Texas, sharing totality with the world.

"Imaging the Total Eclipse"

Don Selle, speaker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL5FPuQE7_I

A solar eclipse in the sky

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On April 8th, 2024, many locations within the State of Texas will experience a total solar eclipse. This is an awesome natural event that should not be missed. While the eclipse will not be total in the Houston area, traveling somewhere within the state to experience totality is very highly recommended. A 99% eclipse is nowhere as breathtaking as totality.

Many eclipse observers will want to photograph the event. Eclipse photography can be challenging, but with a little know-how and the right equipment, even first-time eclipse observers can safely photograph the eclipse with great results.

Happy Astronomy Wizards—you can be one, too! See the Observatory page for prerequisites

We got rained out in November, so we'll try again in December. This class is still full, but if you'd like to be an astronomy wizard, too, watch for new notices in 2024. We schedule ~3 classes per year, with the hope that we can conduct two. Want more classes? Consider joining the observatory training team! Contact [email protected] to find out more.

Rene, Doug, and Allen
Observatory Trainers