Monthly Meeting: May 14, 2026 – Why The Moon?
Travels to Dark Skies. Tales and images.
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/20/2026
After the iffy conditions during the day, the night turned out to be nearly perfect! The daytime clouds disappeared by sunset, and the afternoon winds died completely by the time it was dark. The transparency was much better than average, and the seeing was average or a little better. The temperature hit freezing at about […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/19/2026
Four HAL members attended the impromptu star party of April 19th at Alpha Ridge Park. The weather forecast was pretty accurate, as skies were clear until midnight and the temperature was 39 degrees by that point. Transparency was very good (19.29 on the SQM-L, the best reading since 19.40 on August 30th of last year). José was […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/11/2026
Twenty members joined us Saturday evening for an outstanding impromptu star party. I counted sixteen telescopes around Alpha Ridge with one member actually pointing three scopes skyward. Although seeing was lackluster, transparency remained above average throughout the night. In working through my imagery, I was able to tease out a magnitude 18.9 galaxy with a five-inch […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/07/2026
Seven HAL members enjoyed a crisp, clear evening of observing and imaging at Alpha Ridge Park last night. It was chilly and a little breezy at times, but the transparency was better than average (SQM-L reading 19.18 mpas) and seeing also seemed to be pretty good. James was working through some issues with his recently-acquired […]
Past Monthly Meeting: April 9, 2026 – Dark Sky Experiences
Travels to Dark Skies. Tales and images.
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/28/2026
Clear Skies!
The Sky At Night – April 2026
Upcoming Night Sky Maps & Events
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/19/2026
Last night I opened Alpha Ridge for an impromptu star party. I arrived around 7:45 pm and had 5 guests in total. Unfortunately, the sky did not stay as clear as we were hoping. I was still able to image M42 and NGC 869/864 between breaks in the clouds. We packed things up and locked […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/10/2026
The night was pretty nice with wonderful weather and nice temperatures. We had a few clouds rolling for like 20 minutes at some point but after that it was all clear and nice. We had a total of 8 members coming, mostly imaging or troubleshooting their gear, but we also had Ernie observing and sketching a […]