5 Mysteries Of Pluto That May Change The Way You Think About The Dwarf Planet

By Ralph Phillips, Docent at HMNS Sugar Land, introduction by Chris Wells A few years ago everyone’s heart went out to our littlest neighbor when Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. This sentimental feeling was interesting because it revealed a burgeoning sense of extraterrestrial community among us earthlings. Instead of only identifying ourselves as […]

The Stargazer’s Guide To June 2018: What to look Up For This Month!

    The Big Dipper is above the North Star, with its handle pointing up.  From that handle, you can ‘arc to Arcturus’ and then ‘speed on to Spica’; those stars are in the south at dusk.  Arcturus is the fourth brightest star in the night sky, but the brightest one we see from Houston […]

Sky Happenings in June 2017

This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on June 1, 9 pm CDT on June 15, and dusk on June 30.  To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom.   The Big Dipper is high in the north. From the Big Dipper’s handle, arc to Arcturus […]

What’s “Up” In May, 2017

  This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on May 1, 9 pm CDT on May 15, and dusk on May 31.  To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom. A swath of brilliant winter stars sets in the west at dusk.  Orion, the Hunter, is […]

Sky Happenings in April, 2017

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Source: http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1431a/     This star map shows the Houston sky at 10 pm CDT on April 1, 9 pm CDT on April 15, and dusk on April 30.  To use the map, put the direction you are facing at the bottom.   Jupiter, near Spica in Virgo, is up virtually […]

Now Open: The Burke Baker Planetarium, Best in the World

It only takes a few seconds of a stellar light show in this newly-renovated facility to recognize why the Houston Museum of Natural Science is calling the Burke Baker Planetarium “the best and brightest in the world.” The clarity, the detail, the movement, the science, the imagery, all come together to create one of the […]

Leap years: proof that Earth is always running late

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably aware 2016 is a leap year. February will have 29 days as part of a four-year mathematical cycle that has been observed in the Gregorian calendar since 1582. The reason we do this? To make up for a slight discrepancy in the Earth’s orbit around the […]

The Dome is Done! Planetarium renovation moving ahead right on schedule

The Burke Baker Planetarium and Friedkin Theater renovation project reached a milestone this week, and we at the museum are brimming with anticipation! Okay. That’s an understatement. When we first heard the news, we all ran around screaming, “The dome is finished! The dome is finished!” That’s what really happened. The dome is indeed complete, […]

Educator How-To: Making the Moon out of Cheese (and Crackers!)

After months of renovation, the Burke Baker Planetarium at the Houston Museum of Natural Science will re-open March 11 with the best picture of the universe in the world! The Evans and Sutherland Digistar 5 digital projection system boasts the first True 8K image on the planet, with twice the resolution as an IMAX theater. The powerful digital […]


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