Once a year

The best places to watch the Perseid meteor shower: Getting the most out of arare sky show

Drop all of your plans for Saturday: The Perseid meteor shower is making its annual appearance, and will be filling the night sky with bright streaks from dark until dawn.

The moon will be a slender crescent, Jupiter and Venus are nicely-aligned and the weather is expected to be clear, so this is a perfect opportunity to stay up late and catch some meteors. Where should you go for optimal viewing?

"The further you are from the big city, the more you see," James Wooten, planetarium astronomer for the Houston Museum of Natural Science, tells CultureMap.

Just lay back, look up and enjoy the celestial show.

Though some of the brighter streaks will be visible even within the city, the most impressive sights can be seen about 40 miles away from Houston's bright lights.

A decent map of light pollution in the area can be found here, but the general rule goes something like this: The more rural, and the more open the sky, the better.

Meteors will become visible between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. in the northeast — but Wooten says that they will become more and more frequent, originating from a higher and higher point in the sky, in the pre-dawn hours.

Wooten recommends a blanket and the naked eye for viewing, since streaks are sporadic and difficult to follow with a telescope. Just lay back, look up and enjoy the celestial show.

The George Observatory at Brazos Bend State Park is hosting a viewing party on Saturday. The park will remain open until 2 a.m. Normal park fees apply, and attendees can purchase a $5 ticket for the Gueymard Telescope beginning at 5 p.m.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”