HOWARD

ASTRONOMICAL

LEAGUE


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Upcoming Events (including next star party and general meeting)
Note: We have resumed in-person General Meetings at Robinson Nature Center (as well as on Zoom).
Coming Soon: Redesigned HAL Website - new look and feel, better for mobile devices! Same address.
2025 HAL Officers/Positions NEW
2025 Star Party Schedule NEW
2025 Star Party Reports (impromptus so far) NEW
2025 Meetings page (so far)
HAL Seestar S50 Loaner Program Still Available
Featured Astrophotos
September 14th Public Star Party Photos & Report
Video Recordings and PDF Slides from recent General Meetings:
- Jan 2025: Multi-Epoch HST Imaging of a Shock Front in the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant NEW
- Nov 2024: Introduction to Amateur Astronomy
- Oct 2024: Space Shuttle Stories - Astronaut Tom Jones
- Sep 2024: The Past, Present, and Future of Lunar Sample Analysis
- See more videos on HAL's YouTube Channel
HAL's Officers and Positions for 2024 to be updated for 2025
Book of the Month
Links for HAL's Instagram account
HAL's YouTube channel: @howardastro
Presidents page and HAL Officers

Upcoming HAL and Non-HAL Events

February 20: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: AI-based Surveying of Exoplanet Atmospheres
Zoom link below.
March 3: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
Zoom link will appear later in Feb.
March 8: Public Star Party First one of 2025!
March 20: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: TBD
March 29: Members-Only Star Party
April 5: Public Star Party
April 26: Members-Only Star Party

Past HAL and Non-HAL Events

February 3: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
January 16: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Annual HAL Officer Election plus a great speaker.
Topic: Multi-Epoch HST Imaging of a Shock Front in the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant
January 6: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
December 19: HAL Holiday Party and Auction
December 9, 2024: Pocket Solar System with HAL - family-friendly event
Howard County Library, Central Branch - from 7:15 to 8:30pm
December 2: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
November 21: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Introduction to Amateur Astronomy: Review of Some Basic Concepts. .

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.
HAL has a Discord Group (members only)
How to Join HAL's Impromptu Mailing List?

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
Recent Planning Meeting Minutes and Latest Treasurer's Report (member login required)

The next HAL General Meeting is February 20th at 7pm. This meeting is open to the public.

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

Topic: AI-based Surveying of Exoplanet Atmospheres

    Topic: HAL Monthly Meeting - Thursday, February 20th, 2025
    Time: Feb 20, 2025 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85428773613?pwd=WEH4SjyDg4ghjSuDqTDJjlhZ6HRonN.1

    Meeting ID: 854 2877 3613
    Passcode: 436701

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.

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 Gaggle list, hal-impromptu@gaggle.email, 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: February 12, 2025 @ 18:30 EST