Greetings to all of our club members, visitors, and guests!
We welcome you to the regular meetings of the North Houston Astronomy Club on the 4th Friday of every month.
The Kingwood campus is located on the west side of I 69 (US Highway 59), north side of Kingwood Drive, and NW of the Kingwood Medical Center.
Click below here to see the Map and Driving Directions!
(Parking permits are not required after 6 PM!)
Lone Star-Kingwood Campus
See the following Campus Map
All Members, Guests, and Visitors park at the Parking Lot C across the Sortes-McClellan Road. The CLA building we both the novice and general meetings gather is building 4 as shown on this map. Click on the image above to get a pdf file with more information about the campus layout.
Physical Address
20000 Kingwood Dr.
Kingwood, TX 77339
26 July 2019
Our gathering begins with the Novice Meeting:
Place: Lone Star College-Kingwood Campus
Location: Classroom Building A (CLA) – (2nd Floor – Room CLA221)
The Astronomy Classroom
Time: (6:30 – 7:15) PM
Speaker: Bruce Pollard
(NHAC Vice President)
Presentation
Going the Milky Way!
This is a warped simulation of the Milky Way Galaxy. New scientific discoveries based on remapping the distribution of star clusters and star populations in the galaxy now provide substantial evidence we are willing in a warped rather than a flat, disk-shaped galaxy!
Believe or not our Milky Way Galaxy is warped in its shape and structure with the outer most distribution and remapping of the stars and stellar populations on opposite edges of the galaxy distributed both above and below the galactic equator. New surveys from the analysis of Cepheid variable stars which are a well-known type of star that changes in brightness as measured by their stellar magnitude over a period of time are great indicators for measuring distance and positions provide great evidence for our galaxy having a warped shape. This does not change the fact that our galaxy has a lot of fantastic regions full of wonderful non – stellar DSOs (Deep Sky Objects) that can be observed any time of the year, but the best seasons are Summer and Winter when the Milky Way is high above the horizon at reasonable times (just a few hours after sunset). Bruce Pollard will provide for us a tour of the Milky Way starting with this formation, current state, and what future holds for our galaxy. Come to the novice meeting to learn as much as you can about our wonderful galaxy!
Learn more from the following References:
The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way
The Future: Colliding with the Andromeda Galaxy
Facts about our Galactic Home!
The gathering concludes with the General Meeting:
Place: Lone Star College-Kingwood Campus
Location: Classroom Building A (CLA) – (1st Floor – Room CLA112)
The Teaching Teacher Auditorium
Time: (7:30 – 10:00) PM
Speaker:
Speaker: George Roeff
(NHAC member & Founder of the Willis Friends of Dark Skies)
Presentation
Light Pollution
This is a light pollution map of the United States that includes regions of Southern Canada and Northern Mexico. Note how our neighbor countries have extensively less light pollution issues than the continuous 48 states.
Light pollution is one of the most serious issues that threaten our view of the night sky and humanity’s attachment and connection to Nature and the Cosmos. When it comes to light pollution one faces the loss of the night sky with its appearance of the magnificently beauty and splendor of the Milky Way Galaxy, the structural beauty of the Deep Sky Objects in both our galaxy and Universe and the wonders of the Stars. These views not only threaten our view of the celestial heavens but have environmental consequences, physical and psychological health of humanity, and issues of crime and safety in our cities and neighborhoods. Come to our general meeting and listening in the impact and actions required to mitigate and reduce the effects of light pollution not only to save our dark skies but to improve on the standard of living for all of humanity and life on Earth. Mr. Roeff is the founder of the Willis friends for Dark Skies will present this talk on the issues and actions that can be taken to save our night skies!
Learn more from the following References:
The International Dark Sky Association!
Help a Neighbor with Light Pollution
The Impact on the Environment and Wildlife
The Health effects due to Light Pollution
Light Pollution Compromises Security & Safety!