HOWARD

ASTRONOMICAL

LEAGUE


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Upcoming Events (including next star party and general meeting)
NEW: We have resumed in-person General Meetings at Robinson Nature Center (as well as on Zoom).
September Object of the Month: Elephant's Trunk Nebula by Jared Case NEW
November Public Star Party Report (last of the year) NEW
Video Recordings and PDF Slides from recent General Meetings:
- Nov: Venus Tectonism NEW
- Oct: Stellar Occultations by Small Solar System Bodies: Tiny Shadows, Big Science
- Sep: The Art and Science of Visualizing Webb Imagery
- Aug: DarkSky International 2023, A Presentation to the Amateur Astronomy Community
- Jul: CCOR: Compact Coronagraphs and Upcoming Eclipses
- See more videos on HAL's YouTube Channel
Book of the Month
August Public Star Party Report and Photos
2023 Star Party Schedule and 2023 Star Party Reports
HAL Covid Policy a la Howard County
Links for HAL's Instagram account
HAL's YouTube channel: @howardastro
Presidents page and HAL Officers

Upcoming HAL and Non-HAL Events

December 14: No Astroschool [Closed for December.]
December 21: HAL General Meeting at 7pm : !!! Holiday Pot-Luck Party !!!

Zoom link below.
January 8 (Tentative): HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome). Zoom link will appear in late December.
January 11: Astroschool
January 18: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: TBD

Past HAL and Non-HAL Events

December 4: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
November 16: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: Venus Tectonism. (Zoom link below.)
November 11: HAL Public Star Party Last Public Star Party of 2023.
November 9: HAL Astroschool - Solar System in Your Pocket
November 6: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
November 4: HAL Members-Only Star Party [more...] Last Members-only Star Party of 2023.
October 21: International Observe the Moon Night
- HALO Activity: Design and build a shock-absorbing system that will protect two “astronauts” when they land!
- NASA Observe the Moon Event Materials
- Find an Event Near You
- Moon Maps
- Event Hashtag: #ObserveTheMoon
October 21: HAL Public Star Party [more...]
October 19: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Stellar Occultations by Small Solar System Bodies: Tiny Shadows, Big Science
October 14: 11:30 to 3:00 pm Solar Eclipse - Daytime event at HALO in conjunction with Maryland STEM Festival.
See also NASA 2023 Eclipse info and Maryland STEM Festival
October 14: HAL Members-Only Star Party [more...]
October 12: HAL Astroschool: Black Holes
October 2: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome) Login for Zoom link
September 24: Robinson Nature Center 12th Anniversary Open House (All Ages) from 12PM-5PM.
September 23: HAL Public Star Party [more...] CANCELLED: Since our governor declared a State Of Emergency, all Howard County Recreation and Parks programs are cancelled.
September 21: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: The Art and Science of Visualizing Webb Imagery
September 14: HAL Astroschool NOTE: SEPTEMBER AstroSchool Canceled

Did You Know?

HAL 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.
- To contact our Social Media coordinator, email socialmedia@howardastro.org.

What is HAL? - MD STEM Festival Interview with Phil Whitebloom, HAL President (8 min.)
2022 Keyholder Responsibilities (Duties and Agreement) (members only)
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 December 21st at 7pm. (Holiday Pot-Luck Party is for members-only + family.)

NOTE: We have resumed in-person General Meetings at Robinson Nature Center (as well as on Zoom).

Presentation: none.

    Topic: HAL December Monthly Meeting / Holiday Pot-Luck Party

    Time: Dec 21, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

    Join Zoom Meeting

    https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87142566469?pwd=9V17dxLUpGNZ68vU4VsA8zIEs7NJ9h.1
            	
    Meeting ID: 871 4256 6469
    Passcode: 936392

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 - Updated May 2023

In Howard County, COVID-19 community level is Low. We are following Howard County guidelines:
https://www.howardcountymd.gov/health/covid-19
https://www.howardcountymd.gov/News021822
Face coverings are optional inside the Alpha Ridge HALO building. People may choose to mask at any time.
If you are experiencing any flu-like symptoms or have tested positive for COVID, please be considerate of others and refrain from attending HAL 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.

The monthly board of directors' Planning Meeting and the HAL public General Meeting are being held virtually using Zoom. However, as of September 2023, we have resumed in-person General Meetings at Robinson Nature Center (as well as on Zoom).

The parks have 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		Dark Sky International
	Howard County Conservancy		Alpha Ridge Park

Last modified: December 07, 2023 @ 19:50 EST