HOWARD

ASTRONOMICAL

LEAGUE


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What's New with HAL?

What is HAL? - MD STEM Festival Interview with Phil Whitebloom, HAL President (8 min.)

HAL now has an Instagram Account: hocoastro!
- To post, use our Instagram Submission Form.
- To share your own posts on our Instagram stories, use the #howardastro hashtag.

2022 Keyholder Responsibilities (Duties and Agreement) (members only)

January Sky Charts from AL (members only)

Upcoming HAL and Non-HAL Events

What will the New Year ring in for HAL? Watch this space!
January 20: General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: Paulo's Discoveries from his Personal Observatory. See Zoom details and options below.

Where is Webb?
Explore Webb Deployments

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): 29 Days on the Edge [YouTube]

2022 Star Party Schedule

Past HAL and Non-HAL Events

January 3: HAL planning Meeting (members only)
December 25: JWST launch rescheduled for Christmas Day (12/25) at 7:20 AM (EST). NASA coverage begins at 6:00 AM.
Join HAL for our own Webb Watch starting at 6:30 AM (12/25) via Zoom (password: jwst).
December 18: Winter Solstice Celebration - Under the Stars at the Robinson Center.
December 16: HAL General Meeting - Hybrid Holiday Party!
We had almost 60 people either in person at Robinson Nature Center or on Zoom! See details about our holiday party.
December 14: Maryland STEM Festival - JWST Webb in Space! Click image for details.

(See also streaming info.)
December 13: HAL Public Viewing Event: Library Outreach - Come and "Check Out" the Telescopes!
See the Moon and other astronomical objects at Howard County Library Central Branch. Photos from our Library Outreach.

December Sky Charts from AL (members only)
HAL's Lunar Eclipse Impromptu Report. See also many more lunar eclipse photos in our Google Group.
HAL's Last Star Party was a Big Success!

November 18th General Meeting (7-9PM): New Horizons and the Kuiper Belt.
- Slides from November General Meeting (PDF 14.0 MB)
- Zoom recording of November mtg w/Carey Lisse's New Horizons and the Kuiper Belt presentation [from approx. 11:50 to 1:45:00]. Grace Coventry's presentation on Unistellar eVscope begins at approx. 1:45:20. (Full: 390 MB) (Audio only: 127.0 MB)
November 13th Public Star Party. Our last scheduled star party of 2021!
November 1st Planning Meeting (7-8PM): All HAL Members are invited. Zoom information can be found via login

Did You Know?

You Can Help NASA Observe Other Worlds! - Exoplanet Watch
Recent Star Party Reports
How to Join HAL's Impromptu Mailing List?
HAL's COVID-19 Policy for Events
Recent Planning Meeting Minutes and Latest Treasurer's Report (member login required)

The next HAL General Meeting is January 20, 2022 at 7pm. This meeting is open to the public. [Read more...] Zoom details below.

        HAL is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
        Topic: Paulo's Discoveries from his Personal Observatory.
        Date: Thursday, January 20th, 2022
        Time: 7:00PM - 9:00PM EST
        
        Join Zoom Meeting
        https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81571208079?pwd=RDg2cXkzSmlqTU9qKzdoQ25wVTdzUT09
        Passcode: jwst2022
        
        Meeting ID: 815 7120 8079
        Passcode: jwst2022
        One tap mobile
        +13017158592,,81571208079#,,,,*95913487# US (Washington DC)
        +19292056099,,81571208079#,,,,*95913487# US (New York)
        
        Dial by your location
                +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
                +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
                +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
                +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
                +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
                +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        Meeting ID: 815 7120 8079
        Passcode: 95913487
        Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k0wmf7h5H

December 18th: Winter Solstice Celebration - Under the Stars [see page 13]. Celebrate the longest night of the year with an evening of activities that explore the light and the dark! Enjoy a planetarium program to discover the significance of the solstice, myths, and folklore about our sun. Take in nature's winter beauty during a night hike as we examine how animals and plants prepare for the long nights and short days ahead. Warm up with a campfire and hot chocolate. [6 yrs + Robinson Nature Ctr] RP4873.550 Saturday, Dec 18 from 6:30-8:30pm, $10 fee. To register: www.howardcountymd.gov/rap or 410-313-PARK (410-313-7275).

Mars Report: Update on NASA's Perseverance & Curiosity Rovers "With no road maps on Mars, I'm building my own as I go. There are lots of places I want to explore, and mapping while I drive will help me see and do more. "

Watch on Facebook...

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

What's happening with the Mars 2020 mission and Perseverance?

Welcome
to the Howard Astronomical League. HAL is an astronomy club located in Howard County, Maryland. We hold monthly meetings on the lower (mezzanine) level of the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD, conduct public star parties at Alpha Ridge Park utilizing the "HALO" observatory, and provide community outreach events at various Howard County locations - often in public library parking lots. We invite everyone to be a part of amateur astronomy with us. You will find information about our meeting dates on the Our Meetings page. Information on membership is located on the HAL Membership page.

HAL's COVID-19 Policy for Events

For HAL impromptu and member-only star parties, participants should wait for an invitation before approaching to look through others’ telescopes; respect each other’s desires for social distancing.
Face coverings are encouraged for non-vaccinated people while participating outdoors.
Face coverings are required for all inside the Alpha Ridge HALO building.

Currently, the monthly board of directors' planning meeting, Astroschool, and the HAL public meeting are being held virtually using Zoom. Check back frequently for updates. HAL looks forward to resuming in-person gatherings.

The parks have now re-opened. HAL is now scheduling public events. HAL keyholders are also free to call members-only impromptu observing sessions via the closed hal_impromptu email list for Carrs Mill Park or Alpha Ridge Park.

Join Us
for our Star Parties and Outreach events. We also provide an e-mail group for communication of timely club News and for astronomical discussions.

Information
to help plan your observing sessions is available on the calendar page or the astrolinks page -- where you can check for moonrise times, Iridium flares, International Space Station sightings, Jupiter's Great Red Spot transit and a lot more. And don't forget to check the weather before you venture out.

HAL's Observatory at Alpha Ridge Park (HALO)
HALO houses HAL's 6 inch "Illig" Refracting telescope. Check these web pages for full details about the observatory. For a schedule of events at the observatory, check the HAL star parties page or the HAL calendar.

HAL is proud to have official affiliations with:

	Robinson Nature Center		Astronomical League
	Howard County Recreation & Parks Alpha Ridge Park		International Dark Sky Association
	Howard County Conservancy		Alpha Ridge Park

Last modified: January 09, 2022 @ 18:15 EST