HOWARD

ASTRONOMICAL

LEAGUE


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Upcoming Events (including next star party and general meeting)
We Need You - to attend our Jan. 16th General Meeting to vote for HAL officers. Better yet, consider running for a HAL leadership position. NEW
2025 Star Party Schedule NEW
HAL Seestar S50 Loaner Program Still Available
Featured Astrophoto: Whirlpool Galaxy by Jared Case
September 14th Public Star Party Photos & Report
2024 Star Party Reports
2024 Regional Non-HAL Star Parties
Video Recordings and PDF Slides from recent General Meetings:
- Nov 2024: Introduction to Amateur Astronomy NEW
- Oct 2024: Space Shuttle Stories - Astronaut Tom Jones
- Sep 2024: The Past, Present, and Future of Lunar Sample Analysis
- Aug 2024: SOFIA: The Last Flying Observatory
- Jul 2024: Two Years of Exploring the Universe with JWST
- See more videos on HAL's YouTube Channel
HAL's Officers and Positions for 2024
Book of the Month
Links for HAL's Instagram account
HAL's YouTube channel: @howardastro
Presidents page and HAL Officers

Upcoming HAL and Non-HAL Events

December 19: HAL Holiday Party and Auction

Zoom link below.
January 6, 2025: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
January 16, 2025: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public). Annual HAL Officer Election plus a speaker.
Topic: TBD
Zoom link.
February 3, 2025: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
February 20, 2025: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: AI-based Surveying of Exoplanet Atmospheres

Past HAL and Non-HAL Events

December 9: Pocket Solar System with HAL - family-friendly event
Howard County Library, Central Branch - from 7:15 to 8:30pm
December 2: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
November 21: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Introduction to Amateur Astronomy: Review of Some Basic Concepts. .
November 11: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
November 9: Public Star Party Last one until March 2025!
November 2: Members-Only Star Party
October 26: Public Star Party
October 17: HAL General Meeting at 7pm (open to the public).
Topic: Space Shuttle Stories - Astronaut Tom Jones
October 7: HAL Planning Meeting (members welcome).
October 5: Members-Only Star Party

Did You Know?

HAL has an Instagram Account: hocoastro!
- To post, use our Instagram Submission Form.
- To share your own posts on our Instagram stories, use the #howardastro hashtag.
- To contact our Social Media coordinator, email socialmedia@howardastro.org.
HAL has a Discord Group (members only)
How to Join HAL's Impromptu Mailing List?

What is HAL? - MD STEM Festival Interview with Phil Whitebloom, HAL President (8 min.)
2022 Keyholder Responsibilities (Duties and Agreement) (members only)
You Can Help NASA Observe Other Worlds! - Exoplanet Watch
Recent Star Party Reports
Recent Planning Meeting Minutes and Latest Treasurer's Report (member login required)

The next HAL General Meeting is December 19th at 7pm. This meeting is open to the public.

NOTE: We have resumed in-person General Meetings at Robinson Nature Center (as well as on Zoom).

Presentation: Holiday Party and Raffle.

		Topic: HAL December Pot-Luck Meeting -  December 19th, 2024
		Time: Dec 19, 2024 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

		Join Zoom Meeting
		https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88391892336?pwd=IJpEHPAxHAOjBbOUFebRBgsUWUlDY7.1

		Meeting ID: 883 9189 2336
		Passcode: 926906

Welcome
to the Howard Astronomical League. HAL is an astronomy club located in Howard County, Maryland. We hold monthly meetings on the lower (mezzanine) level of the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD, conduct public star parties at Alpha Ridge Park utilizing the "HALO" observatory, and provide community outreach events at various Howard County locations - often in public library parking lots. We invite everyone to be a part of amateur astronomy with us. You will find information about our meeting dates on the Our Meetings page. Information on membership is located on the HAL Membership page.

The monthly board of directors' Planning Meeting and the HAL public General Meeting are being held virtually using Zoom. However, as of September 2023, we have resumed in-person General Meetings at Robinson Nature Center (as well as on Zoom).

The parks have re-opened. HAL is now scheduling public events. HAL keyholders are also free to call members-only impromptu observing sessions via the closed Gaggle list, hal-impromptu@gaggle.email, for Carrs Mill Park or Alpha Ridge Park.

Join Us
for our Star Parties and Outreach events. We also provide an e-mail group for communication of timely club News and for astronomical discussions.

Information
to help plan your observing sessions is available on the calendar page or the astrolinks 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.

HAL's Observatory at Alpha Ridge Park (HALO)
HALO houses HAL's 6 inch "Illig" Refracting telescope. Check these web pages for full details about the observatory. For a schedule of events at the observatory, check the HAL star parties page or the HAL calendar.

HAL is proud to have official affiliations with:

	Robinson Nature Center		Astronomical League
	Howard County Recreation & Parks Alpha Ridge Park		Dark Sky International
	Howard County Conservancy		Alpha Ridge Park

Last modified: December 18, 2024 @ 16:54 EST