HOWARD

ASTRONOMICAL

LEAGUE


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Featured:

NEW: Welcome to our new HAL leadership team led by President Victor Sanchez!
- Continuing: Jim Tomney, Joel Goodman, Richard Ren, Hannah Broder, Steve Jaworiwsky, and Ken Sall.
- New to leadership: Grace Coventry, Atul Agrawal and Krystal Rolon.
- Big thanks to our "retiring" leaders from 2022: President Phil Whitebloom, Secretary Yvonne Chiarelli and Librarian Bob Dutilly.
NEW: December Object of the Month: The Pleiades by Brad Martin.
NEW: Presentation and Video Recording from our January 2023 General Meeting: Joint Polar Satellite System, JPSS-2
2023 Star Party Schedule
2022 Star Party Reports
September 2022 Public Star Party Report and Photos
HAL Covid Policy a la Howard County
Links for HAL's Instagram account
NEW: HAL's YouTube channel: @howardastro
UPDATED: President's page

Upcoming HAL and Non-HAL Events

February 6, 2023: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome) Login for Zoom link
February 16, 2023: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: DART. See below.
March 6, 2023: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome) Login for Zoom link (available early March)
March 16, 2023: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: Dragonfly: Flights of Exploration on an Exotic Ocean World
June 18, 2023: Summer Solstice Celebration at Robinson Nature Center

Past HAL and Non-HAL Events

January 19, 2023: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: JPSS-2 Annual Election too!
January 2, 2023: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome)
December 15: HAL General Meeting (open to the public). Topic: Holiday Party & Swap Meet at RNC!
December 5: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome)
November 19: HAL Members-only Star Party (last one of the year) [more...]
November 17: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: Cometary DUIs: Detected Under the Influence (of the Sun, that is) .
November 7: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome)
November 5: HAL Public Star Party (last public SP this year) [more...]
October 22: HAL Members-only Star Party [more...]
October 20: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: What Is The Best Telescope For You?

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 February 16, 2023 at 7pm. This meeting is open to the public.
Topic: Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission

    Zoom info will appear here in early February.

Sunday, June 18, 2023: Summer Solstice Celebration!
Celebrate the longest day of the year at Robinson Nature Center. We’ll create solar prints, enjoy safe, solar viewing with the Howard Astronomical League, delight in a popsicle break and take a stroll down to our river to enjoy a few water-based activities that will help your family ring in the summer!
RP4873.401. Sunday, June 18th, 2:00 to 4:00pm, $10 fee, 5 yrs+.
Note: Registration will open on March 1st for this program. To register: www.howardcountymd.gov/rap or phone 410-313-0400.
Search RNC Activities.

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 Updated 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.
We are following Howard County guidelines such as: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/News021822
Face coverings are encouraged 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 24, 2023 @ 19:57 EST