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 […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/12/2025
(Lunar Eclipse) Last night we had a total of 5 HAL members including myself.I got at Alpha ridge park at 8:30 pm to start getting ready, and the rest of the attendees arrived at 11 pm. We enjoyed a beautiful night with some light clouds every now and then but nothing that affected our imaging […]
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/08/2025
First Public Star Party of 2025. Over 200 attended on this fine night!
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/02/2025
We had a successful impromptu star party Sunday night, March 2, in the cold but mostly clear weather. There were some high clouds around at sunset, but they had moved out by about 7:45pm and it stayed clear until it wasn’t. Temperatures were below freezing all night, starting at 31degF as I started observing and […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 2/28/2025
(The One with Mercury) Six HAL members (including me) and around a dozen members of the public enjoyed clear skies and nice weather at the impromptu star party at Alpha Ridge Park last night. I didn’t arrive until 6:15 and was suprised to find many people there with small telescopes and cameras set up to […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 2/21/2025
James and Mae joined me for an impromptu star party last night at Alpha Ridge. Skies were clear all night. Winds were gusty for a while, but settled down to mostly calm by 9:00. Temperature was down to 25 degrees by 11:00 with 40% relative humidity. James and Mae imaged the Tadpole Nebula (IC 410) […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 2/07/2025
(The One with the Solo Keyholder) I was the only attendee for the impromptu star party that I hosted last night. Skies were clear the entire time that I was there. The metadata of the exposures from my imaging shows 47 degrees and 45% humidity at 7:00 PM, falling to 41 degrees by 9:00 PM, […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 2/01/2025
(The One with Clear, Cold Skies and a Mystery Car) Four HAL members showed up to enjoy the clear skies at Alpha Ridge last night. Three were successful, but one suffered the heartbreak of technical difficulties. Happily, there were no incidents of equipment being blown away by high winds. Mike imaged the Fish Head Nebula […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 1/29/2025
(The One with High Winds and a New Impromptu Keyholder) The high winds made for a frustrating star party experience last night. Mike had planned to image the Heart Nebula (IC 1805) in Cassiopeia with his 8″ SCT and Shrikant was going to observe the Orion Nebula with his 72mm refractor. Unfortunately, the gusty winds […]
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 1/27/2025
(The One with Over a Dozen Members) We had a successful impromptu star party Monday night, January 27, in the cold but calm conditions. More than a dozen HAL members attended, and there was a mix of visual observing, imaging, and engineering activities among the attendees. Transparency was pretty good, but seeing was below average […]