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.

September 2, 2025

The H.A.S. Library Telescope Loaner Program is busy with most of the 8” and 10” dob reflectors out on loan! 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 (on request), an excellent resource for novice observers. The Nightwatch / binocular combination makes for a great introduction to observing. Nightwatch is also available for loan separately as naked eye viewing / constellation identification is also fun! 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.

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

6”, 8”, and 10” commercial dobs. At least one of each size may be borrowed from the program. HAS #42 is an Orion XTi 8” with “push to” electronics and a hand controller
HAS#35 Orion Astroview 6” f/5 Newtonian on an EQ mount adjusted to alt-az.
HAS#40 Seestar S30 (details to follow)
HAS#2 Meade Coronado PST Solar scope is often available.
HAS#44 and #45 Vortex Diamondback HD 8x42 Binoculars are available to borrow.

Send an email with your name and phone number to [email protected] to initiate a loan.

“Europa Clipper – Exploring an Ocean World”

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By: Dr. Walter Kiefer

The Europa Clipper is a space probe launched on October 14^th, 2024, with Jupiter’s moon Europa as its destination. After receiving gravity assists from Mars and Earth, Europa Clipper will arrive at Jupiter in April 2030. The space probe will orbit the giant planet and perform multiple flybys of its most Europa, its fascinating moon.

Europa, one of the four “Galilean” moons of Jupiter is one of our Solar Systems most unique members. It’s surface is completely covered in ice. It is thought to have an iron core enclosed in silicate rocks, all covered by what is likely to be a subsurface ocean under the ice. Europa is thought to be an Ocean World, and since life on Earth might well have fostered the development of life as we know it, there has been some thought that Europa’s ocean might have played as similar role.

The Europa Clipper space probe will perform a detailed study of the geology and internal structure of Europa, including characterization of the depth and composition of a likely subsurface ocean. The over-arching objective of this space mission is assessing whether the ocean might be able to support life.

In this talk, Dr. Kiefer will provide an overview of the Europa Clipper mission and its science objectives.

Speaker: Walter Kiefer is the Director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and is a member of the Gravity and Radio Science team for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.

To see the video, click Europa Clipper Mission/a>.

" Our Solar System "

By: Chris Morisette

We’re going to give our home a little love and explore “Our Solar System" in this month's Novice presentation. Some basic information will be covered, then we’ll take a fascinating tour using the “Eyes on the Solar System” model from NASA. We’ll journey to and learn about each planet as well as a host of moons, asteroids, comets, and planetary missions. The presentation will wrap up with some information to help you observe Saturn and Jupiter during their upcoming opposition(s), then we’ll view a gallery of “fun photos” showing our place in the Universe!

Speaker Bio: 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.

To see the video, click Our Solar System.

Have you heard about the Astronomical League's "FYEO" Observing Award?

This Observing Award will guide you through the best naked-eye targets in the sky. No telescope is required, actually you cannot use anything other than your eyes, hence the name "For Your Eyes Only".

Here is a list of AL Observing Programs that have "eyes only" requirements.