Looking for something to do tonight? Come join us at Mustang Island State Park for a star party! Start time is 8pm in the Day Use parking lot. Just look for the telescopes!! Bring your curiosity and questions!

Clear Skies!!

The September equinox and the first quarter moon both fall on September 22 this year. In 2012, the moon reaches its half-lit first quarter phase only about five hours after this year’s September equinox.

The equinox happens today at 14:49 Universal Time, which is 9:49 a.m. Central Daylight Time for us in the central U.S. The September equinox takes place whenever the sun is at zenith – straight overhead – at the Earth’s equator. This magical moment signals the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere. On the day of an equinox, the sun rises due east and sets due west all over the world.

September 2012 guide to the five visible planetsRead More

Heads up for all our local followers. Club meeting will be held Friday Sept 22, 7pm @ the Science Bldg TAMUCC, 4th floor

This week, skywatchers will have the chance to catch a winking "demon star" in the night sky.

The star, known as Algol, is located in the constellation of Perseus, the Hero, and has been known since ancient times as "The Demon Star."

Algol has a long and venerable history. Its name comes from the Arabic word al-ghul, which means "female demon." But, contrary to popular belief, the name seems to have nothing to do with the star's behavior, but rather, is due merely to Algol's position marking the head of the Gorgon Medusa in ancient Greek mythology. According to the myth, gazing at Medusa could turn a person to stone.


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August 31
Mars and Saturn team up low in the western sky in early evening, with Mars to the left and Saturn to the right. Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is visible through strong binoculars or a telescope, and looks like a tiny star quite close to the planet.
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Tuesday, August 21

In twilight the waxing crescent Moon makes a lovely quadrilateral with Saturn, Spica, and Mars low in the southwest, as shown above. They all just fit in a 6° binocular view. By coincidence, this is also the evening when Saturn, Spica, and Mars form an equilateral triangle.Read More

Want to see the elusive planet Mercury? Then get up before dawn on August 15, 2012, when the moon will be right next to the little planet. Both will be hovering very low in the east before dawn. The best news: the brilliant planets Venus and Jupiter will point the way.

Draw an imaginary line through Jupiter and Venus and – past the left side of the moon – to locate Mercury near the sunrise point on the horizon, as displayed on the chart at the top of this post.

Far and away, Mercury will be the hardest of these worlds to see. It climbs above the horizon just as darkness begins to give way to dawn. If you have a level horizon and a clear sky, you might first see Mercury somewhere around 80 to 60 minutes before sunrise at mid-northern latitudes. At more southerly latitudes, Mercury rises even closer to sunup.Read More

The 2012 Perseid meteor shower was awesome! Meteor counts were high, ranging up over 100 meteors per hour in some places, and there was a beautiful alignment of the moon with the sky’s brightest planets Venus and Jupiter in the predawn sky. Simply wonderful. But the peak of the Perseids has passed, and it’s time to ask: When is the next meteor shower?
Luckily, you don’t have long to wait.
The Draconid meteor shower peaks on October 7, 2012, according to U.S. clocks.
Watch for the Orionid meteor shower on the morning of October 21, 2012.
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Every time there’s a meteor shower, people always asking which direction they should watch. The answer is that any direction will do! It’s true that this weekend’s Perseid meteors appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. But you don’t need to look toward this radiant point to see the meteors. Instead, the meteors will appear all over a dark night sky during the night of August 11-12. Still, it’s fun to find the radiant. More about that below. Also, if you’re out meteor-watching, don’t forget to look for the moon, Venus and Jupiter before dawn.

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The month of August brings us not one, but two full moons. The first will kick off the month on Wednesday (Aug.1), and will be followed by a second on Aug. 31.

Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full moons occur within a calendar month, the second full moon is called a "blue moon."

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