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1H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
U P C O M I N G E V E N T S
S O C I E T Y D I R E C TO R Y
P R E S I D E N T ’ S L E T T E R
A R T I C L E | SOLAR ECLIPSE PROVIDES CORONAL GLIMPSE
S H A L L O W S K Y O B J E C T O F T H E M O N T H
A R T I C L E | M C D O N A L D OBSERVATORY
O B S E R VATO R Y C O R N E R
A S T E R I S M
A B O U T T H E G U I D E S TA R
ABOUT H.A.S.
PARKING AT UH
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Watercolor painti ng enti tled “A Pedestal to view the Stars” Arti st and Photographer Curti ss Eberhardt painted this in contemplati on of a segment he heard on NPR about worm holes and black holes. Curti s, though living in New York City, is originally from Houston. His Dad and Uncle both worked for NASA and sti ll live in Houston. You can view his work on Instagram: htt ps://www.instagram.com/curti seberhardt/?hl=en
A B O U T T H E C O V E R
What draws people into wanting to learn
astronomy? And, more importantly, what can
we do to keep them learning? Amy will discuss
her personal experience teaching astronomy
informally to children and adults and her recently
published children's book about the night sky.
Amy is the founder and director of
Starry Sky Austin. Amy attended the University
of Houston where she earned her Bachelor of
Physics. There she learned about astronomy and
helped to re-open the University of Houston
MARCH 3, 2017 GENERAL MEETING AMY JACKSON, INSPIRING LIFELONG LEARNERS
Amy Jackson, Starry Sky Austi n
observatory. After graduating from UH she attended Rice University and graduated
with a Master of Science Teaching degree and her Texas Teaching Certificate in Science
grades 4-8. She taught at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, in private and
public schools. A mother of 3, Amy has years of experience teaching and working with
the public. She has spent the past decade following her passion by inspiring Austin
and the surrounding communities with hands-on astronomy classes and has recently
published a children's book about the night sky. She is also currently employed as an
astronomy educator at Travis County Milton Reimers Ranch Observatory.
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MARCH NOVICE PRESENTATION By Debbie Moran
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For March, we welcome Jimmy Newland
for a talk titled Astronomy Online: Using
NASA’s Spitzer Archives and an online
Telescope. This is a talk everyone will
enjoy including experienced amateur
astronomers. There are many online resources that can be used to create images and for study. Jimmy Newland has
recently been using IRSA, the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive based on the Spitzer
Space Telescope to create images and he will also introduce the Las Cumbres Online
Global Telescope System. Jimmy teaches astronomy at Bellaire High School and runs a
useful web site for not only his students but others interested in astronomy.
April is open for now. I am welcoming requests for new topics. Sometime this
year, we hope to hear from Melanie Black about basic electronics, applicable to those
who want to create their own telescope accessories such as dew heaters.
Also, please note that videos of our presentations are available on the HAS web
site. While we will periodically revisit basic topics such as telescope optics and sky
navigation, if you need to see those topics sooner, please take a look at the video
archive to review past presentations.
CALENDAR
OTHER MEETINGSJOHNSON SPACE CENTER ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY | jscas.net
Meets in the the Lunar and Planetary Institute on the 2nd Friday of each month.
FORT BEND ASTRONOMY CLUB | fbac.org/club_meetings.htm.
Meets the third Friday of the month at 8:00 p.m. at the Houston Community
College Southwest Campus in Stafford, Texas.
NORTH HOUSTON ASTRONOMY CLUB | astronomyclub.org
Meets at 7:30 p.m. on the 4th Friday of each month in the Teaching Theatre
of the Student Center at Kingwood College. Call 281-312-1650 or E-mail
BRAZOSPORT ASTRONOMY CLUB
Meets the third Tuesday of each month at the Brazosport planetarium at 7:45
p.m. The Brazosport planetarium is located at 400 College Boulevard, Clute, TX,
77531. For more information call 979-265-3376.
SEND CALENDAR EVENTS TO DOUG MCCORMICK [email protected] FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON CLUB EVENTS, GO TO ASTRONOMYHOUSTON.ORG
HAS MEETINGS All meetings are at the University of Houston Science and Research building. See the last page for directions to the location and more information.
NOVICE MEETING 7:00 P.M. room 117 Science & Research 1 Bldg GENERAL MEETING 8:00 P.M room 117 Science & Research 1 Bldg
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGThe Houston Astronomical Society holds its regular monthly General Membership Meeting on the first Friday of each month, unless rescheduled due to a holiday or a conflict with other events at the University of Houston.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETINGThe Board of Directors Meeting is held on dates and at locations scheduled by the board. Information provided to GuideStar will be published. The meetings are open to all members of the Society in good standing. Attendance is encouraged.
GuideStar_HAS
Houston Astronomical Society
STARLINE 832-go4-HAS0
MAR 3 7:00 p.m. HAS Novice Meeting, U of H 8:00 p.m. HAS General Meeting, U of H
MAR 5 5:32 a.m. First Quarter Moon
MAR 12 2:00 a.m. Daylight Savings Time begins, Move clocks forward one hour 9:54 a.m. Full Moon
MAR 20 5:29 a.m. Spring Equinox 10:58 a.m. Last Quarter Moon
MAR 25 Prime Night, Columbus
MAR 27 9:57 p.m. New Moon
APR 1 5:00 Mercury at greates elongation eastAPR 3 1:39 p.m. First Quarter MoonAPR 5 5:00 p.m. Jupiter at opposition 7:00 p.m. HAS Novice Meeting, U of H 8:00 p.m. HAS General Meeting, U of H APR 11 1:08 a.m. Full MoonAPR 15 6:45 p.m. Novice Lab, ColumbusAPR 17 1:00 a.m. Mercury at greatest illuminated extentAPR 19 2:57 a.m. Last Quarter MoonAPR 22 Prime Night, ColumbusAPR 26 7:16 a.m. New MoonAPR 29 11:00 p.m. Venus at greatest illuminated extent
UPCOMING EVENTS
2H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
DIRECTORS AT LARGE WALT [email protected]
CHRIS [email protected]
MARK [email protected]
DEBBIE [email protected]
BRAM [email protected]
OFFICERS PRESIDENT RENE [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT DON [email protected]
SECRETARY ROB [email protected]
TREASURER JESSICA [email protected]
COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONSAUDIT SCOTT MITCHELL
EDUCATION & OUTREACH
DEBBIE MORAN & JOE KHALAF
FIELD TR./OBSG STEPHEN JONES
MEMBERSHIP BILL KOWALCZYK
NOVICE DEBBIE MORAN
H:713-774-0924 C:713-562-7670
OBSERVATORY MIKE EDSTROM
observatory@ astronomyhouston.org
P: 832-689-4584
PROGRAM JUSTIN MCCOLLUM
PUBLICITY BRAM WEISMAN
TELESCOPE ALLEN WILKERSON
P: 832- 265-4773
AD-HOC COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONSAL COORDINATOR DOUG MCCORMICK
AUDIO/VISUAL MICHAEL RAPP
GUIDESTAR BOB WIESNER
TEXAS 45 COORDINATOR RENE GEDALY
WELCOMING EVELYN PENILLA
HAS BOOKING STEVE GOLDBERG
VIDEOGRAPHY MARIO MORENO
WEB TECHNOLOGY MARK FERRAZ
URBAN OBSERVING STEVE MUNSEY
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ED FRAINI
WOMEN’S SIG
RENE GEDALY
AMELIA GOLDBERG
IDA REP DEBBIE MORAN
ADVISORSDR. LAWRENCE PINSKYUniversity of Houston
BRIAN CUDNIKPrairie View A&M University
3H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
HOUSTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY DIRECTORY
PRESIDENT’S LETTER | BY RENE GEDALY
4H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
At the new Observatory Training class: John Haynes, Megan Galvan, Steve Munsey, Joe Khalaf, Stephen Jones, Bram Weisman
The WSIG will be starting a class on observing the HAS Texas 45. This class is open to all members of HAS but
RSVPs are required. Our homegrown observing program is held at the Dark Site and is totally accessible to the
novice observer who’s got a few rudimentary skills. For instance, at the Novice Observing Labs you’ve been
learning the constellations for each season, and at the Novice Telescope Lab, you’ve learned the basics of
telescope operation. My newbie test case, who has attended neither yet, completed 8 of 10 required objects
on the winter list her first night out using only binoculars and the observatory 12.5" f/5 telescope. With a
little guidance, you can do it, too! Watch the website for details or send questions to Texas45@astronomy-
houston.org.
The Novice Telescope Lab last month reported a full complement of attendees with four on the waiting list.
The next class is 7-8:30 pm April 11, 2017 at the Mendenhall Community Center. Watch Netslyder, our email
list, for the notice about making your RSVP.
Did you work on the new Women's & Family Bunkhouse? We're planning a big open house and the Prez
wants to acknowledge you publicly. Please let me know if you helped, whether nailing, mudding, designing or
schlepping. I've got some pictures with plenty of people helping throughout the last year but I don't recognize
all of you by name. Don't be bashful. Let me know who you are at [email protected].
The first class of the new observatory training was a huge success with twelve members attending and
everyone passed! Speaking of passing, you have done your online site training, haven't you? The gate code
is changing March 1, yikes. I know, I know, you haven't taken a test in 30 years and that was with paper and
pencil. But really, it's an easy quiz and you get to miss two of ten and still pass. Lots going on at the dark site.
You don’t want to miss it.
NASA SPACE PLACE ASTRONOMY CLUB ARTICLE
5H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
This article is provided by NASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games, and
lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages everyone to get excited about science and
technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!
On August 21, 2017, North Americans will enjoy a rare treat: The first total solar eclipse visible from the continent since 1979. The sky will darken and the temperature will drop, in one of the most dramatic cosmic events on Earth. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime show indeed. But it will also be an opportunity to do some science. Only during an eclipse, when the moon blocks the light from the sun's surface, does the sun's corona fully reveal itself. The corona is the hot and wispy atmosphere of the sun, extending far beyond the solar disk. But it's relatively dim, merely as bright as the full moon at night. The glaring sun, about a million times brighter, renders the corona invisible. "The beauty of eclipse observations is that they are, at present, the only opportunity where one can observe the corona [in visible light] starting from the solar surface out to several solar radii," says Shadia Habbal, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii. To study the corona, she's traveled the world having experienced 14 total eclipses (she missed only five due to weather). This summer, she and her team will set up identical imaging systems and spectrometers at five locations along the path of totality, collecting data that's normally impossible to get. Ground-based coronagraphs, instruments designed to study the corona by blocking the sun, can't view the full extent of the corona. Solar space-based telescopes don't have the spectrographs needed to measure how the temperatures vary throughout the corona. These temperature variations show how the sun's chemical composition is distributed—crucial information for solving one of long standing mysteries about the corona: how it gets so hot.
Illustrati on showing the United States during the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, with the umbra (black oval), penumbra (concentric shaded ovals), and path of totality (red) through or very near several major citi es. Credit: Goddard Science Visualizati on Studio, NASA
While the sun's surface is ~9980 Farenheit (~5800 Kelvin), the corona can reach several millions of degrees Farenheit. Researchers have proposed many explanations involving magneto-acoustic waves and the dissipation of magnetic fields, but none can account forthe wide-ranging temperature distribution in the corona, Habbal says. You too can contribute to science through one of several citizen science projects. For example, you can also help study the corona through the Citizen CATE experiment; help produce a high definition, time-expanded video of the eclipse; use your ham radio to probe how an eclipse affects the propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere; or evenobserve how wildlife responds to such a unique event. Otherwise, Habbal still encourages everyone to experience the eclipse. Never look directly at the sun, of course (find more safety guidelines here: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety). But during the approximately 2.5 minutes of totality, you may remove your safety glasses and watch the eclipse directly—only then can you see the glorious corona. So enjoy the show. The next one visible from North America won't be until 2024.
For more information about the upcoming eclipse, please see:
NASA ECLIPSE CITIZEN SCIENCE PAGEhttps://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/citizen-science
NASA ECLIPSE SAFETY GUIDELINEShttps://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety
Want to teach kids about eclipses? Go to the NASA Space Place and see our article on solar and lunar eclipses! http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/eclipses/
SOLAR ECLIPSE PROVIDES CORONAL GLIMPSE By Marcus Woo
55 ERIDANI – DOUBLE STARObject: 55 Eridani, SAO131443, STF590
Class: Double Star
Constallation: Eridanus
Magnitude: 5.98 (6.7, 6.8)
R.A.: 4 h, 43 m, 35 s
Dec: -8° 47’ 40”
Size/Spectral: F4
Separation/PA: 9.2 arc seconds; 317 degrees
Distance: 406 ly
Optics needed: A small telescope
If you’re a reader of Astronomy magazine you may have run
across Glenn Chaple’s article in the March, 2017 issue called
“Double star marathon redux”. The idea is to create a double
star marathon list to complement the Messier list. Most of us
know that in March it’s possible to see all the Messier objects
in a single night. If a Messier marathon isn’t enough for you,
try the double-star marathon. (Information on how to get the
list is in the article, or just email Glenn at gchaple@hotmail.
com.)
The Messier list is 110 objects, and the double star list is 110
double stars. Any chance you could complete them both in a
single night?
There’s not much that can compete with double stars
for observing opportunities.
• They’re often bright pairs
• Visible even in light polluted skies
• They don’t require large optics (but do require good
optics)
The star pair that I’ve chosen from Glenn’s list is a good one
in that it is relatively bright, the stars are within .1 magnitude
of each other, and the separation is large enough that even
modest telescopes will split it easily.
Like most stars, this one exists in several catalogs,
Flamsteed (55 Eri), Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory
(SAO 131443, and the Struve catalog of double stars (STF590).
My computer based sky map (TheSky X) finds the star for any
of these designations, but requires the text ‘STRUVE 590’ to
find it using the STF catalog.
I remember a night, long ago, when I was at the HAS
observing site with my 15” dob. I had completed my list of
SHALLOW SKY OBJECT OF THE MONTH | B ILL PELLERIN
6H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
objects for that night, so I found an article by Sissy Haas (Sky
and Telescope) on double stars and thought I’d give these a
try. I did and was delighted to see a wide array of double stars
on that night. There were some pairs that were close enough
and so similar in magnitude that I couldn’t help but think of
these as headlights on a dark road, or the eyes of an animal
lurking in the night.
The Astronomical League has a double star award,
and I encourage you to work on that program. If you observe
55 Eri, you’ll have completed one of the stars on the list.
(You’re obliged to draw the double star as part of the
program.)
The combined color of the two stars is F4, which puts it in the
middle of the color spectrum. Only about 1/3 of the stars in
the sky are F stars, and, recalling that the original list of star
colors was in order of the strength of the hydrogen line in the
star’s spectra, we should expect that this star would have a
rather weak hydrogen line. In fact, F stars have strong calcium
absorption lines. These absorption lines occur in the outer
atmospheres of stars and give astronomers clues about the
history of the star.
This star is available in March early in the evening
with a local transit time of about 20:15. If you have electronic
setting circles or a go-to telescopes, it’ll be easy to find.
Finder chart. Star charts generated by TheSkyX © Software Bisque, Inc. All rights reserved. www.bisque.com
MCDONALD OBSERVATORY ARTICLE
AUSTIN — Astronomers at The University of Texas at Austi n have developed a new technique to discover the faintest galaxies yet seen in the early universe —10 ti mes fainter than any previously seen. These galaxies will help astronomers probe a litt le-understood, but important period in cosmic history. Their new technique helps probe the ti me a billion years aft er the Big Bang, when the early, dark universe was fl ooded with light from the fi rst galaxies. Rachael Livermore and Steven Finkelstein of the UT Austi n Astronomy Department, along with Jennifer Lotz of the Space Telescope Science Insti tute, went looking for these faint galaxies in images from Hubble Space Telescope’s Fronti er Fields survey. “These galaxies are actually extremely common,” Livermore said. “It’s very sati sfying being able to fi nd them.” These faint, early galaxies gave rise to the Epoch of Reionizati on, when the energeti c radiati on they gave off bombarded the gas between all galaxies in the universe. This caused the atoms in this diff use gas to lose their electrons (that is, become ionized). Finkelstein explained why fi nding these faint galaxies is so important. “We knew ahead of ti me that for our idea of galaxy-powered reionizati on to work, there had to be galaxies a hundred ti mes fainter than we could see with Hubble,” he said, “and they had to be really, really common.” This was why the Hubble Fronti er Fields program was created, he said. Lotz leads the Hubble Fronti er Fields project, one of the telescope’s largest to date. In it, Hubble photographed several large galaxy clusters. These were selected to take advantage of their enormous mass which causes a useful opti cal eff ect, predicted by Albert Einstein. A galaxy cluster’s immense gravity bends space, which magnifi es light from more-distant galaxies behind it as that light travels toward the telescope. Thus the galaxy cluster acts as a magnifying glass, or a “gravitati onal lens,” allowing astronomers to see those more-distant galaxies — ones they would not normally be able to detect, even with Hubble. Even then, though, the lensed galaxies were sti ll just at the cusp of what Hubble could detect. “The main moti vati on for the Fronti er Fields project was to search for these extremely faint galaxies during this criti cal period in the universe’s history,” Lotz said. “However, the primary diffi culty with using the Fronti er Field clusters as an extra magnifying glass is how to correct for the contaminati on from the light of the cluster galaxies.” Livermore elaborates: “The problem is, you’re trying to fi nd these really faint things, but you’re looking behind these really bright things. The brightest galaxies in the universe are in clusters, and those cluster galaxies are blocking the background galaxies we’re trying to observe. So what I did was come up with a method of removing the cluster galaxies” from the images. Her method uses modeling to identi fy and separate light from the foreground galaxies (the cluster galaxies) from the light coming from the background galaxies (the more-distant, lensed galaxies).
A Hubble Space Telescope view of the galaxy cluster MACS 0416 is annotated in cyan and magenta to show how it acts as a ‘gravitational lens,’ magnifying more distant background galaxies. Cyan highlights the distribution of mass in the cluster, mostly in the form of dark matter. Magenta highlights the degree to which the background galaxies are magnified, which is related to the mass distribution. Credit: STScI/NASA/CATS Team/R. Livermore (UT Austin)
ASTRONOMERS FIND FAINTEST EARLY GALAXIES YET, PROBE HOW THE EARLY UNIVERSE L IT UP
According to Lotz, “This work is unique in its approach to removing this light. This has allowed us to detect more and fainter galaxies than seen in previous studies, and to achieve the primary goal for the Fronti er Fields survey.” Livermore and Finkelstein have used the new method on two of the galaxy clusters in the Fronti er Fields project: Abell 2744 and MACS 0416. It enabled them to identi fy faint galaxies seen when the universe was about a billion years old, less than 10 percent of its current age — galaxies 100 ti mes fainter than those found in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, for instance, which is the deepest image of the night sky yet obtained. Their observati ons showed that these faint galaxies are extremely numerous, consistent with the idea that large numbers of extremely faint galaxies were the main power source behind reionizati on. There are four Fronti er Fields
7H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
clusters left , and the team plans to study them all with Livermore’s method. In future, she said, they would like to use the James Webb Space Telescope to study even fainter galaxies. The work is published in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
ASTERISM | OBSERVATORY CORNER
COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXASAT AUSTIN MCDONALD OBSERVATORY,
PUBLISHER OF STARDATE MAGAZINESTARDATE.ORG/MAGAZINE
OBSERVATORY CORNER By Mike Edstrom
8H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
A Hubble Space Telescope view of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 is annotated in cyan and magenta to show how it acts as a ‘gravitational lens,’ magnifying more distant background galaxies. Cyan highlights the distribution of mass in the cluster, mostly in the form of dark matter. Magenta highlights the degree to which the background galaxies are magnified, which is related to the mass distribution. Credit: STScI/NASA/CATS Team/R. Livermore (UT Austin)
On March 4th, at noon the combination is changing to the padlocks at the Observatory Property near Columbus, TX. If you haven’t taken your refresher course you will need to in order to get the new combination. New padlocks will be installed for easy reading of the numbers. If you need to take the refresher training, please go to https://www.astronomyhouston.org/about/has-observatory, sign into the website and look 2/3 down the page to the start button. Within 24 hours after you have taken the training and passed the quiz you will receive an e-mail from the HAS Webmaster with a link to the “Observatory Property Indemnification”, please sign it with your mouse or stylus then type in your name and hit “submit”. You will then be given the new combination and property map. If you have any questions, please contact Mike Edstrom at [email protected]
Asterism: a grouping of stars that form a recognizable pattern.Constellation: TaurusRight Ascension: 04 h, 30 mDeclination: 16o 00’ As mentioned at the Novice sem-inar in January, 2017, the asterism “Triple Double” is easily seen in small telescopes. It is located in Taurus, near bright star Aldebaran. Going from Aldebaran to the “point” star in the head of the bull (Gamma 54), the asterism is the naked eye star, Theta, between the two. In the eyepiece you will see 3 pairs of 2 stars around the field of view. The groups of stars are: Theta 1 and 2, and 80 and 81, and the pair in the upper left of the FOV (field of view). The FOV in the second pic-ture is from a 10” telescope with a 15mm eyepiece. Future asterisms: “37”, Coat Hanger, Star Gate and NGC 457 (“ET”). If you have a favorite asterism, let me know.
Note: This is the first in a series of articles about neat asterisms that can be seen with small telescopes.
ASTERISMS – TRIPLE DOUBLE, THETA TAU By Steve Goldberg
Media Contacts:Rebecca Johnson, Communicati ons Mgr. The University of Texas at Austi n | +1 512-475-6763
Ray Villard, News ManagerSpace Telescope Science Insti tute+1 410-338-4514
Science Contacts:Dr. Rachael LivermoreThe University of Texas at Austi n+1 512-471-1745
Dr. Steven FinkelsteinThe University of Texas at Austi n+1 512-471-1483
Dr. Jennifer LotzSpace Telescope Science Insti tute
+1 410-338-4467
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ABOUT THE GUIDESTAR
9H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
The Houston Astronomical Society is a non-profit corporation organized under section 501 (C) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Society was formed for education and scientific purposes. All contributions and gifts are deductible for federal income tax purposes. General membership meetings are open to the public and attendance is
encouraged.
CHECK THE WEBSITEASTRONOMYHOUSTON.ORGThe HAS website not only has news and information about our society, but also a variety of features to manage your membership and connect with other club members. Current members can post photos, trade gear, pay dues, manage discount magazine subscriptions, swap stories in the forum, and more.Questions about the site? Need a hand to get your account set up? Contact [email protected] HAS web site is the winner of the 2012 Astronomical League award for excellence
All members have the right to participate in Society functions and to use the
Observatory Site. Regular and Student Members receive a subscription to The
Reflector. The GuideStar, the monthly publication of the Houston Astronomical
Society is available on the web site. Associate Members, immediate family members
of a Regular Member, have all membership rights, but do not receive publications.
Sustaining members have the same rights as regular members with the additional dues
treated as a donation to the Society. Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines are
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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONYou can join (or renew at the organization web site, www.astronomyhouston.org. Click
the ‘Join HAS’ Tab. Send funds to address shown on last page of GuideStar. Attention
- Treasurer, along with the following information: Name, Address, Phone Number,
Special Interests in Astronomy, Do you own a Telescope? (If so, what kind?), and where
you first heard of H.A.S.
EVENT NOTIFICATION OR CANCELLATIONHAS uses RAINEDOUT.NET to communicate late breaking updates about our various events. . Message delivery is via text messaging and e-mail. There are several ways to subscribe. If you would like to receive these notices via text messaging directly to your phone, subscribe to any of the sub-groups which interest you. RainedOut notices will also automatically be sent to our e-mail list. Note that regular e-mail list conversations are not part of RainedOut communications and will not be sent to your phone as part of this service. Instructions to sign up for the e-mail list (a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of the club) are found here:http://www.astronomyhouston.org/about/email-list.
To receive text messages, send any or all of the following (one at a time) to 84483OUTREACH Public Outreach EventsSTARPARTY Members only star PartiesURBAN Urban Observing EventsMEETINGS HAS Meetings
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ABOUT THE HOUSTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
THE HOUSTON ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY welcomes you to our organization.The HAS is a group of dedicated amateur astronomers, most of whomare observers, but some are armchair astronomers.The benefits of membership are:
- Access to our 18 acre observing site west of Houston -- a great place to observe the universe! - A telescope loaner program -- borrow a HAS telescope and try observing for yourself! -A monthly novice meeting, site orientation meeting, and general meeting with speakers of interest. Access to meeting videos on the HAS web site.- Opportunities to participate in programs that promote astronomy to the general public (such as Star Parties at schools)- A yearly all-clubs meeting for Houston area organizations- Meet other amateurs and share experiences, learn techniques, and swap stories
You’re invited to attend our next meeting. You’ll have a great time!
HOUSTONASTRONOMICALSOCIETYP.O. Box 800564Houston, TX 77280-0564
H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y
DIRECTIONS TO MEETINGFrom I‐45 going south (from downtown)- exit at Cullen Boulevard- turn right on Cullen- turn right on Holman Street; the parking lot is past the Hoffeinz Pavilion- Science and Research is across the street (2nd building back)From I-45 going north (from NASA/Galveston)- exit at Cullen Boulevard- turn left on Cullen- turn right on Holman Street; the parking lot is past the Hoffeinz Pavilion- Science and Research is across the street (2nd building back)
PARKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON MAIN CAMPUSFor the monthly Houston Astronomical Society MeetingThe map below shows the location of the 15C parking lot, west of Cullen Boulevard on HolmanStreet.
The map is from the University of Houston web site and identifies the lot that is available for parkingwhile attending the Houston Astronomical Society monthly meeting. This parking is availablefrom 6:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. on the Friday night of the HAS meeting (usually the first Friday ofthe month).
This parking is free. If you get a notice from the UH campus police on the night of the meeting, callthe UH Security office and let them know that this area has been made available on HAS meetingnight by the Parking Department.
PARKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON MAIN CAMPUS
11H O U S TO N A S T R O N O M I C A L S O C I E T Y