880181880181880181 div>

Welcome to the:

Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society (JSCAS) web site.

JSCAS is an association of amateur astronomers dedicated to the study and enjoyment of astronomy since 29 May 1967.

Welcome

Information

Calendar

Beginner's Page

Newsletter

Telescope Loaner Program

Observing

SIG's

Expeditions

Links

Presentations

Contacts/Members

Past JSCAS Presentations

Past JSCAS Officers

As part of its mssion of public outreach, the Johnson Space Center Astronmical Society enjoys hosting "Star Parties" where the public has the opportunity to observe the heavens through members' telescopes. If your school or group would like to have our club host a Star Party please contact:

Doug Holland

Chris Wells

David Haviland

J

JSCAS appreciates the generous support of the University of Houston Clearlake for providing support for our montly meetings.

University of Houston-Clear Lake
2700 Bay Area Blvd
Houston, TX  77058-1002


Club Officers

President/ - Doug Holland - sdholland777@yahoo.com

Vice President - Chris Wells

Historian - Chris Randall

Treasurer - We can't afford one!!!

Telescope Loaner Program is currently non operational

Ron Sterlekar - Educational DVD Loaner Library Chair - Ron Sterlekar@dmn3.com

Star Party Chairman - David Haviland - starhopper457@gmail.com

Scientific Expeditions - Paul Maley - pdmaley@yahoo.com

Newsletter Editor - Connie Haviland - conniesstarscanaccount@gmail.com

Web Author/List Manager - David Haviland - starhopper457@gmail.com

This site tested using FireFox 114.0.1 (64-bit), Google Chrome Version 114.0.5735.134 (Official Build) (64-bit) , and Microsoft Edge -not tested.

Need a custom embroided JSCAS Club Shirt?

(Restriced to Club members only)

Contact Connie at: conniescreativedesign@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Becky Ramotowski's wonderful picture at Ft. McKavett

Below: Doug Holland's recent image of Ngc7380

Image of M31 taken by Treavor Quinn - details to follow.

 

 

Mare Frigoris, north of Mare Imbrium and topology north of that mare. Shot was taken July 12th with a CGE 11 using a QHY5III178M. Best 20% of 4000 frames were taken using FireCapture and stacked in Autostakkert 3, with processing in PS-CC, annotated in Powerpoint.

The Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society is dedicated to the acquisition and dissemination of information pertaining to the science of Astronomy.  Our goal is not only to serve our members, but the general public as well. We have no dues, no by-laws, we just talk about astronomy and we are living proof that you can get something of value for free!

South East Houston Astronomy Club
  For information about the JSCAS list server click here.  

To contact JSCAS click here.

For the month of March, we will be having our meeting at UHCL, STEM Building, Room 1203 starting at 7:30.  Speakers should arrive by 7:00 to 7:15.  Our speaker for the March 8th meeting will be James Wooten, FBAC/HMNS - “The Great Texas Eclipse of 2024”. In addition, we'll have some DIY/Members minutes talks as well. Attendees should park in Parking Lots D3 or D4 no earlier than 7:00.  

Please see the UHCL Map here -- Please park in lots D3 and D4. The STEM building is building #5 on the map. Come in from the east side and go left. When you come to the end of hallway, you should find the auditorium where the meeting will be.

Please see club emails and other distribution lists for details on where to log in. As our live meetings traditionally started at 7:30pm CST, so would our virtual meetings. Please make sure you are on our Youtube channel a few moments before 7:30pm. Bear with us as at the minimum, we'll try to record the meeting and then post it on the clubs YouTube page within a few days. Please join us for the August 11th meeting.

Our Youtube channel is here! When in doubt, get into YouTube and search for Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society. - there you will see the current meeting as well as previously recorded meetings!

AFTER the meeting... we are still planning on converging at our "usual" MOD Pizza for an after meeting gathering! By all means, please come out if you are in the area. Proposed meeting time at MOD's is 9:30-45 PM.

Announcements about meetings will be made over the clubs email list and on the clubs Facebook page. Get the link below to the club's YouTube page where you can view this upcoming meeting and also view some of the prior meetings of the club.

If there are any questions about the meetings, or astronomy in general, please click here!

Changes will be coming to the website. Sadly​ as some know, under new rules of operation the Lunar Planetary Institute can no longer support our having our meetings at their location. Changes in contracts and operations have also changed their operational mission. From the best of our research, JSCAS has been meeting there since mid 1992. A Dr. David Black, the institute's founding director invited JSCAS to start meeting there at that time and the club has met there ever since. Prior to that, the club was meeting at a building called the "West Mansion" which is no longer there but was at the corner of NASA Rd 1, and Space Center Blvd. It turns out the lighting on the ceiling of the rotunda is in the formation of the constellation Taurus. While Dr. Black was of course a scientist, Tarus was the astrological sign under which he was born. So if the math is right, JSCAS has been meeting at the LPI for the last 31 years. We have fond memories of the relationship with the LPI during these years and hope that someday we can return.

Membership to the JSCAS is open to anyone wishing to learn about astronomy. There are no dues, no-by laws -- you simply show up to our meetings.

The University of Houston - Clear Lake (UHCL):  Our meeting benfactor is is located at University of Houston - Clear Lake around the corner from JSC and our meeting place, the LPI (USRA). It is located at 2700 Bay Area Blvd, Houston, TX, 77058. Please see the link above for a map. We meet in the STEM building (Building #5). Please park in lots D3 and D4. (https://www.uhcl.edu)

 

Headlines in Astronomy and Spaceflight

New email list, Google Group is now effective immediately.

Original story: Laser pointers.

New story: From Laser Pointer Safety website

 

Folks: Please see http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipsesGoogleMaps.html for upcoming eclipse information.

For Texas, there will be an annular solar eclipse crossing Texas on October 11th, 2023

and again on April 8th, 2024

Use the link above for your location and to determine the details of the eclipse.

 

-------------------------------------

From Moon-Connection

 

From Heavens-Above

 

 

Member Chris Well's photo of Omega Centauri NGC 5139 is a globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus. Takahashi TOA130NS with TS 2.5” field flattener with an Atik460EX. Image composed of 36 x 30s minute subs unguided.

 

Chris Well's photo of Pinwheel Galaxy M101 is a face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. Takahashi TOA130NS with TS 2.5” field flattener with an Atik460EX. Image composed of 21 x 5 minute subs.

Chris Well's photo of Lunar Eclipse form May 26th, 2021.

Equipment: Takahashi FS60C with EXT-Q 1.6 operating at 568mm, snapshot images at various exposures with Canon60Da.