There is a Public Star Party on September 11th at Alpha Ridge Park. Wayne Baggett will host.

With the string of great weather we've been having, key an eye on the HAL Yahoogroup e-mails for notices of impromptu star parties. These are held at either Carrs Mill or Alpha Ridge at the keyholder's discretion.

Support HAL and show your "astro pride" this star party season by purchasing items from the HALGear store. A small portion of each sale goes to the observatory fund.

Welcome
to the website of the Howard Astronomical League, Central Maryland's premiere astronomy club!  HAL is an amateur astronomy club located in Howard County, Maryland. We hold monthly meetings, conduct public star parties and provide community educational talks.

Join Us
also for our Star Parties and Outreach events. In addiiton, we provide an e-mail group for communication of timely club News, to alert subscribers of impromptu gatherings at one of our observing sites, and for astronomical discussions.

Information
to help you plan your observing sessions is available either on the Calendar page, or the Resources 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 -- but if its cloudy, come play in our Kid's Korner section instead!

HAL's Observatory
is in the advanced planning stages. The goal is to start construction during Howard County's next fiscal year. The site has been selected in Alpha Ridge park. It will house HAL's Watson Telescope. Full details about the Observatory and the Watson Telescope is documented on this website as is the status of our Building Fund. These pages are great resources to help keep abreast of this exciting project.

Cluster Map - See Where Our Site Vistors are Located

HAL is proud to have membership in:

International Dark Sky Association