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 […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/19/2025
Seven HAL members enjoyed a very pleasant evening of observing at Alpha Ridge Park on the night of May 19/20. Temperature was about 70 degrees at sunset and it was still 60 at midnight. It was somewhat breezy, but not too bad. Seeing and transparency both seemed to be below average to poor. Jason used […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/17/2025-5/18/2025
“We went because we had hope, and we left because we got facts” That is to me, the best way to describe the impromptu star parties from yesterday and tonight. Unfortunately, the weather report was not very reliable these past few nights, to the point that 2 different apps showed we were under clear skies, […]
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/03/2025
Second Public Star Party of 2025. Enthusiastic group gathered in spite of the clouds!
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/23/2025
Good evening HAL, I hosted an impromptu Star party on Wednesday since the weather report showed we would have clear skies. I arrived at Alpha Ridge Park at 7:30 pm and 12 other members showed up. Unfortunately the skies were a little cloudy during the first few hours but the weather was nice and most […]
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/05/2025
First Public Star Party of 2025. Over 200 attended on this fine night!
Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/29/2025
(Dark parking lot, but not the best sky) Because of the clouds, most of us didn’t bring any equipment, but we enjoyed a tour through the observatory and a history lesson about HAL’s equipment by David.We also talked about astrophotography gear, some plans for future star parties, and the best topic of the night was […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/12/2025
(Clear but not the best seeing) Hello, Everyone! March 18’s Member’s Impromptu Starparty was a success with six members attending beneath a cloud-free sky. Unfortunately, the predicted “Above Average” transparency and “Average” seeing opted not to attend the event. The general consensus has transparency as “Below Average” and seeing as “Poor.” Temperature ranged from the […]