Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/31/2025
Ten HAL members showed up for a very pleasant evening of observing and imaging at Alpha Ridge Park on the night of August 30th. The first-quarter moon was out until a little after 11:00. The temperature started out in the low 70s and dipped to the high 50s by 1:00 AM. Seeing and transparency seemed […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/23/2025
At least 17 HAL members enjoyed a wonderful night under the stars at the HAL members start party at Alpha Ridge Park on the night of August 23/24. Skies were clear all night, with comfortable temperatures in the low 70s and a 5-10 mph breeze. Several people were making visual observations. New member Colin was […]
Public Star Watch at Howard County Conservancy 8/29/2025
Public Star Watch at Howard County Conservancy
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/02/2025
Clear Skies!
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/21/2025
Eight HAL members enjoyed clear skies and pleasant weather at Alpha Ridge on the night of July 21-22. Wildfire smoke reduced transparency, but it wasn’t too bad. Mike imaged M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major, with his Svbony Sv550 122mm refractor. Gary didn’t have a target in mind for his Celestron Origin smart telescope […]
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/05/2025
Clear Skies! Fun for all. MPT Visits.
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/04/2025
It was a surprisingly cool night on Friday for the HAL impromptu starparty — several people, including me, wished they had brought a lightjacket as the temperature dropped to about 64 degF by midnight. Windswere nonexistent and there was more moisture than predicted, butconditions were not bad at all and dew didn’t stop anyone fromobserving. […]
Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 6/21/2025
Saturday night’s Members-Only Star Party at Alpha Ridge Park was a greatsuccess. Approximately 20 club members, several of them at their firstHAL star party, ventured out with their scopes to enjoy the night sky.High, and not so thin, clouds were present at sunset and were initiallyrather discouraging, but they cleared out by about 11:15pm and […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/26/2025
Jose and I had a nice time observing at Alpha Ridge last night. The sky looked promising at sunset, but thin, high clouds rolled in soon after. It was still possible to see stars through them, and they weren’t thick enough to hinder the Starsense Explorer plate solving on my Dob. Winds were calm. The […]
Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/24/2025
About 20 HAL members, new and old, were at Alpha Ridge Park for Saturday night’s Members-Only Star Party; an accurate count was not obtained, but it was pleasantly crowded. The weather was cool with calm winds and moderate humidity. There were some clouds around at sunset which lasted until about 11:00pm, but they were scattered […]