George Observatory Sundial - Brazos Bend State Park, TX - Sundials on Waymarking.com

Located near the Visitor Center of Brazos Bend State Park in Ford Bend county, Texas (about 30 miles southwest of Houston), the George Observatory comprises of 3 telescope domes maintained by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Fort Bend Astronomy Club. These 3 domes sit on top of the Museum's Expedition Learning Center, a small public indoor site which -- among other educational activities -- gives visitors an opportunity to be part of a simulated space mission.

The Museum's Expedition Learning Center's rooftop is a large flat surface covered in cement, on which the 3 domes of the George Observatory reside in an East-West formation. Located just to the North of the center dome is a large Analemmatic sundial, painted on the ground.

Like many Analemmatic sundials, this one designed with a human (the visitor) having to act as the gnomon. The latitude here is close to 30 degrees North, allowing for a long-enough shadow to accurately mark the hour dial... at least for most of the year.

Given that this location observes Daylight Savings, the required gnomon positions are painted in 2 different colors (by month of the year): light blue for Winter months, and black for Summer months. Likewise, the hour markings -- painted as white diamonds -- include two sets of arabic numerals: light-blue for Winter and black for Summer (when Daylight Savings is observed).

Unfortunately the black paint has faded over time, so the Summer readings are a little trickier to properly observe (at least for some of the "month" and "hour" markings).

More importantly, some of the color pattern seems to be a little "off". In the USA, Daylight Savings used to be from the first Sunday in April through the last Sunday in October. It was extended by 4 weeks in 2005, now beginning 3 weeks earlier on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November. Both "March" are "April" are painted in light blue when they should have been painted in black (note: an argument could be made for March, but April has most definitely been a Daylight Savings month, at least since 1986).

Sundial Type: Analemmatic - Vertical gnomon with elliptical dial Related Web Site: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Only one log per location per person. You should log your own waymarked sundials as well.
GPS in photo optional.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/06/2018 Raven visited it