Beyond Bones

As January ends and February begins, a comet enters the northern evening sky, and it may become bright enough to see with the unaided eye! The comet is C/2022 E3 ZTF. ZTF is the discoverer, the Zwicky Transient Facility, an astronomical survey of the sky using a camera attached to a telescope at Palomar Observatory […]

Editor’s Note: Not quite sure what to do with those holiday plants? Jeff Cummins of the Cockrell Butterfly Center lends a few suggestions. The winter holiday season has ended, the decorations are packed up for next year, the house is more or less back to normal, and we’ve [mostly] recovered from the festivities… but what […]

Editor’s Note: It is a new year and we continue looking up as HMNS Astronomer James Wooten explains the sky happenings for the month of January, including the science behind perihelion. Jupiter is still in the evening sky; look for it in the south southwest at nightfall.  Jupiter is brighter than any star we ever […]

Now that the holiday season is upon us, let’s get to know a plant commonly associated with the festivities, the Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Native to Mexico, they are known as ‘Flor de la Noche Buena’, or ‘Flower of the Holy Night’. Poinsettias are members of the Spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. A little fact: Euphorbia is named […]

Editor’s Note: Look to the skies as HMNS Astronomer James Wooten explains the sky happenings for the month of December, including the science behind our winter solstice. Jupiter is still in the evening sky; look for it in the south at nightfall.  Jupiter is brighter than any star we ever see at night. Saturn remains […]

At 12:47 am CST on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, the Artemis I mission successfully launched from Cape Canaveral. Thus begins NASA’s return to the Moon, as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of our last manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 17. Early Monday morning, November 21, Artemis passed behind the far side of the Moon. […]

Editor’s Note: Look to the skies as HMNS Astronomer James Wooten explains the sky happenings for the month of November, including the highly anticipated rescheduled Artemis I launch. Jupiter is still up most of the night; look for it in the southeast at nightfall.  Unless the Moon is up, Jupiter is the brightest thing in […]

Kintsugi (kin-tsu-gi) is the 15th century Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or other shiny/reflective powder. I like to reduce, reuse, recycle whenever possible, and this tradition instantly caught my eye. Rather than throwing out a piece of pottery when it breaks, it’s an opportunity to bring it […]

Autumn isn’t the only season that’s arrived- it’s also time for Spooky Season, which is in full swing in the HMNS Museum Store. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I’ve always loved dressing up and have even won a costume contest or two… But beyond spending way too much time on my costumes, the […]

Editor’s Note: Look to the skies as HMNS Astronomer James Wooten explains the autumn sky happenings for the month of October. Jupiter was up literally all night long last month.  It is still up most of the night; look for it in the east southeast at nightfall.  Unless the Moon is up, Jupiter is the brightest […]