HOWARD

ASTRONOMICAL

LEAGUE


					HAL Website Search:

Featured:

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).
Jan/Feb Object of the Month: Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443), tie between Lee Amos & Bennie Palmer NEW
2024 Star Party Schedule
and 2024 Star Party Reports
April 13th Public Star Party Photos & Report NEW
2024 Regional Non-HAL Star Parties
Interactive Solar Eclipse Map site
Video Recordings and PDF Slides from recent General Meetings:
- Mar 2024: Laser Communications in Space
- Feb 2024: Total Eclipse of the Heart: Is it Geometry, or Just a Phase including Professor Bernhardt's eclipse links & videos
- Jan 2024: The ZWO Seestar S50: The Next Generation of Smart Telescopes
- Nov 2023: Venus Tectonism
- Oct 2023: Stellar Occultations by Small Solar System Bodies: Tiny Shadows, Big Science
- See more videos on HAL's YouTube Channel
HAL's Officers and Positions for 2024
Book of the Month
August 2023 Public Star Party Report and Photos
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

April 18: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Weather in the Outer Solar System is Cloudy and Stormy. See Zoom info.
April 20: 1:00 - 4:00 pm Clarksville Commons Earth Day Celebration 12230 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD 21029
May 4: Members-Only Star Party
May 6: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).. Login for Zoom link
May 9: Astroschool
May 16: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Great American Solar Eclipse of 2024: Collective Experience of the Howard Astronomical League
See Zoom link.
May 18: Public Star Party
June 3: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome). Zoom link will appear in late May .
June 8: Members-Only Star Party
June 13: Astroschool
June 15: Public Star Party
June 20: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Cosmic Visions
June 22: 6:00 - 11:00 pm Astronomy Festival on the National Mall in front of Hirshhorn Museum, DC

Past HAL and Non-HAL Events

April 13: Public Star Party
April 6: Members-Only Star Party
April 1: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
March 21: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Topic: Laser Communications in Space
March 16: Public Star Party First Public SP of 2024! Star Party Photos & Report
March 14: Astroschool
March 9: Members-Only Star Party
March 4: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
February 15: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Total Eclipse of the Heart: Is it Geometry, or Just a Phase
February 8: Astroschool
February 5: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).

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
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 April 18th 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: Weather in the Outer Solar System is Cloudy and Stormy

      Topic: HAL Monthly Meeting - April 18th, 2024
      Time: Apr 18, 2024 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

      Join Zoom Meeting
   
      https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81420862685?pwd=wcjnobD5HbayRDAsy2FzD5ogCiuMCJ.1

      Meeting ID: 814 2086 2685
      Passcode: 180473

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: April 17, 2024 @ 21:53 EST