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Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 12/22/2024 (The One that Wraps Up the Year ) 5 members showed up that night which was rather surprising considering how cold the night was. I showed up to the park and opened the door of the observatory at 4:30 pm and closed the park at around 11 pm when we could not endure it no more. The night was very clear and uneventful. We enjoyed talking with the members who showed up and got some amazing images like the andromeda galaxy James shared a week ago or the horse head and flame nebulae I shared yesterday. It was rather nice to close the year with such a good night and some good geeky conversations. I truly hope we get a lot of clear nights this coming year. I’ll be happy to host as many impromptu events as I can and hopefully I’ll be joining some other events as well Jose UriasImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 12/02/2024 (The One with 4 More Frigid Amateurs) It was another cold night at Alpha Ridge Park for last night’s impromptu star party, and four HAL members braved the freezing weather to enjoy the sky. Temperatures started at freezing and dropped into the mid-20s by the time we all left. Luckily, the wind was very light so there wasn’t a lot of wind chill tacked onto the temperature. There was some frost by the end of the night, though, but our optics all stayed clear. The seeing and transparency were below average and the sky was inexplicably bright, almost like there were high, thin clouds everywhere. The satellite photos showed no clouds at all, so something else was happening. We checked Astrospheric for smoke and there was none predicted. My eventual hypothesis (OK, my guess) is that the solar maximum activity level is causing atypically bright airglow*. The sky did get darker during the night, so this would fit with airglow as the excited electrons decay away. I have included a plot of my sky brightness measurements to illustrate how the sky became darker with time. Mario brought out his 6-inch SCT to do some visual observing, but his computer ran out of juice before he did very much. He switched over to some tripod-based imaging with an astro-modified Canon camera and a 16mm focal length lens to make the night more useful to him. Shrikant continued his imaging with a DSLR and an AstroTech 72mm refractor, capturing more data on the Helix Nebula and two hours on the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae. Ernie tried to image the Elephant Trunk Nebula with his Vaionis Vespera smart scope, but encountered some technical problems and didn’t collect much data. However, he observed numerous planetary nebulae and double stars with his 8-inch Newtonian and ended up happy with the night. I continued imaging IC 167 in Aries with my 8-inch RC scope, eventually collecting more than 6 hours of additional data. Clouds started approaching from the northwest at about 12:15am — see the accompanying photo — and I stopped imaging about 45 minutes later. The photo shows HALO and my setup in the thermal infrared (about 10 micrometers wavelength) using a garish false color rendition. The cross on the observatory indicates a reading of 2.8 degrees Fahrenheit, but that value is misleading due to an inappropriate setting on the camera; it wasn’t nearly that cold even with radiative losses. Thanks to everyone who came out. It was nice seeing you, and I hope we can do it again soon. I always enjoy our conversations. WayneImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 11/30/2024 (The One with 4 Cold Amateur Astronomers) It was a cold night at Alpha Ridge Park for last night’s impromptu star party. Temperatures started at about 28 degrees and dropped steadily to about 20 degrees. Luckily the wind was absent so the wind chill was minimal. Unfortunately, there seemed to high thin clouds all night, with times of thicker clouds. The Sky Quality Meter reported sky brightnesses as high as 19.62 mag/square-arcsec, which is a rather bright reading for a moonless night. Four HAL members came out to enjoy the conditions. Dana stopped by just after sunset to say Hi, but left after just a few minutes. Ernie made some double star observations with his 8-inch Newtonian (Dob mount), and imaged the Elephant Trunk Nebula with his Vaionis Vespera smart scope. Shrikant imaged the Helix Nebula and a couple of other targets with a DSLR and an AstroTech 72mm refractor mounted on a ZWO AM5 mount. I continued imaging IC 167 (galaxy in Aries) with my 8-inch RC scope. Clouds started getting a lot thicker about 11:30pm, so we stopped and called it a night. I locked the park gate at 12:45am. Thanks to everyone who came out. It was nice seeing you, and I hope we can do it again soon. WaynePublic Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 11/09/2024 (The One with as Many Clouds as Girl Scouts) Last night marked our final public star party of 2024, and despite the clouds trying to get in the way, it was an incredible success! Over 250 people joined us, and with 15 telescopes set up—including our observatory’s telescope—there was plenty to see and experience. A huge thank you to all the HAL volunteers who dedicated their time to make this event possible. Your expertise, communication skills, and enthusiasm truly enhanced the experience for our guests. Dale, a special shoutout to you for creating an interactive, engaging atmosphere inside HALO—it made a lasting impact! Our public star parties will return in March 2025, but our monthly meetings will continue on the third Thursday of each month. If you’re not yet a member and want to learn more about HAL or join us, visit our website at https://howardastro.org. Clear Skies! Phil
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 11/07/2024 (The One with Various Widefield DSLR Imaging) Five HAL members joined me at Alpha Ridge for an impromptu Thursday night. We enjoyed mild weather and mostly clear skies. James, Shrikant and I were doing widefield DSLR imaging of various deep sky objects — the comet and double cluster for me, the Veil for Shrikant, and Andromeda & Pinwheel for James. Gary was imaging the Lagoon Nebula with his excellent Origin smart scope. Ernie was imaging a series of southern Messier globulars with his smart scope and doing visual with his DOB. And Sam did some imaging of the Dumbbell Nebula. We all shut down by 11 pm and I closed the park at 11:30. VictorImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 11/05/2024 (The One with a Frustrating Battle with the Clouds) It was a rather frustrating night of observing for Tuesday night’s impromptu star party. Unfortunately, it appears that the most pessimistic cloud forecast was also the most accurate, and we fought bands of clouds moving through from soon after sunset until we closed. However, eight HAL members came out to give it a try, and between the clouds some enjoyable observing was accomplished. Two members, Molly and Dick, were doing binocular observing of the not-so-dark skies, while Denise and Mike were observing with their 5-inch Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount. Govind used the club’s 16-inch Meade scope (which he donated to us! Thanks!) for some visual observations. Ernie was doing double duty — visual observing with his 8-inch Newtonian on a Dob mount while imaging with his Vaonis Vespera EAA scope. Shrikant and I were both concentrating solely on our imaging. Observing continued until the early hour of about 9:30pm, when what appeared to be the fatal batch of clouds arrived, and Ernie and I called it quits. I locked the gate at 11:05am. Thanks to everyone who came out. It was nice meeting/seeing you all, and I hope we can do it again soon, perhaps with better conditions. Wayne B.Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 11/02/2024 (The One with a Pretty Good Crowd for a Saturday) To steal a line from Billy Joel: “It was a pretty good crowd for a Saturday.” About 25 HAL members, families, and guests came to Alpha Ridge Park for the last Members-Only Star Party of 2024. The weather was good, as was the seeing, but the transparency didn’t quite meet the expectations of the forecasts. Also, there was just the slightest layer of frost on the roof of the car when I left, so winter is approaching. It was a good mix of visual observing and imaging among the attendees, and everyone had a great time. The forecast clouds did arrive a bit before midnight, and they eventually ended the gathering at about 12:45am when Jose and I called it quits. Attached is my image of NGC 891 (edge-on spiral galaxy in Andromeda) that I obtained during the evening. While that was the last scheduled Members-Only Star Party for the year, we will continue observing through the winter via impromptu star parties. Be sure you are signed up for the impromptu notices if you want to participate in them. Also, our final Public Star Party is coming up on Saturday, November 9, and everyone is encouraged to attend that, as well. I locked the gate at 1:55am. Wayne B.
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/27/2024 (The One with the Andromeda Galaxy and the Pleiades) The night of October 27th was a quiet one a only 6 members showed up but it was still a fun one. We had some visual observations of Andromeda galaxy and the Pleiades through binoculars and push-to telescopes as well as some imaging of the Veil nebula and the Pleiades. I closed the park at 1 am when it started to get cloudy. We had no inconveniences during that time. I am including the image I took from the Pleiades. It is my first time doing this target and didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get the nebulosity without blowing the stars at the same time but it was still pretty fun to work on this. [Click once or twice for a better view.] Jose
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/26/2024 (The One with Girl Scouts, Planets, DSOs and a Comet) Last night, over 150 guests enjoyed a stellar evening at Alpha Ridge at our monthly public star party as part of the Maryland STEM Festival. I kicked off the festivities with a guided Solar System Walk for two Girl Scout troops and their parents. Around 30 HAL members and a few guests set up a large variety of observing equipment to show off views of the night sky. Krystal, Bob, and Arjun entertained a constant stream of visitors to their activity tables. With no moon interfering, planets and DSO’s were the stars of the show. Every time I tried to move to another target from Saturn on the 16” Meade, another group would approach to take a look. Inside HALO, Victor held court displaying Venus, Saturn, Comet C/2023 A3 (absolutely breathtaking through the Illig scope), Andromeda, the Pinwheel Galaxy, and the Veil Nebula with a guest appearance by Hannah at the controls. Curiosity, excellent questions, and amazement ruled the night. Seeing improved throughout the evening, and the last guests left a little before 11pm with another successful star party in the books. The next and the last public star party of 2024 is just two weeks away on 9 November. Enjoy these clear skies while they last. Joel
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/22/2024 (The One with College Students Joining HAL Members ) Last night’s impromptu at Alpha Ridge Park was enjoyed by five HAL members and three local college students. Conditions were rather nice early, with comfortable temperatures and calm winds. Seeing was good at the end of astronomical twilight but degraded a bit a couple of hours later. Transparency was good all night although not spectacularly good. Dew became a bit of an issue very late but it was manageable. Ernie and Evan were both imaging M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) with their smart scopes, while also observing visually with their 8-inch Newtonians on Dob mounts. Evan was doing a sky tour and viewed M57 (Ring Nebula), and M15 (globular cluster in Pegasus) among other objects. Ernie observed numerous double stars in Ophiuchus, Lacerta, Corona Borealis, and other constellations, as well as M30 (globular in Capricornus), and Saturn and Jupiter. Kurt imaged the Lobster Claw Nebula (Sharpless 157) in Cassiopeia through a dual-band SII/OIII filter with his Askar V 80mm refractor, and discussed things with John. I imaged the galaxy cluster Abell 347 in Andromeda with my 8-inch Ritchey-Chretien scope, adding to the data I collected earlier in the month. The local college students were doing visual observations with a 12-inch Newtonian on a Dob mount. I provided them information about the club and encouraged them to join. All in all it was a pleasant night under the skies and I enjoyed seeing (and meeting) all of you. I hope we can all do it again soon. I locked the gate at 3:35am. Wayne B.Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/18 and 10/20/2024 (The One with a Bonus SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launch) This is a combined report for the past 2 Star parties. Starting with the one on Thursday 10/18, we had a clear sky with a bright moon. 8 members visited throughout the night, and the majority only stayed for a few hours. We also welcomed 2 new members who joined on the spot to stay and watch the comet. I would like to suggest we print a QR code that leads to the sign-up page and another one for information as we have been lucky to have more people interested in joining on the spot to stay during some of the impromptu events. I closed the park at 1 am that night with no eventualities. As for yesterday, we also enjoyed a clear night and the moon was slightly less bright. We had 9 members visiting to see the comet and image planets and DSO. I will be including a picture that I took of the comet with the new Carbonstar 150 I got. It is a single shot of 30 seconds. Dana got to try the Seestar for the first time and enjoyed a view of the moon with her binoculars. She also delighted us with some home baked snacks (they were so good!). I would say the highlight of the night (at least to me) was seeing what the Celestron Origin can do. Gary showed us some of the images he was taking with it and it was by far the most impressive smart telescope I have seen until now. I closed the park at 2 am as I was very excited starting to image Orion’s nebula. The night also went uneventfully except for the moment I felt my soul living my body when a bunch of coyotes started to howl together out of nowhere at 1 am. I want to end by welcoming the new members to this wonderful community of friendly space nerds. I’ll try to host impromptu parties as much as I can during this fall season. Jose Urias
David Stein added:
At the impromptu at Alpha Ridge Friday night around 7:30, we were lucky enough to see a launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. I didn’t get a picture, but the meteorologist Ava Marie (from WBAL TV) did post a video on Twitter and Instagram that looked just like what we saw:
https://x.com/AvaWBAL/status/1847427956915781895
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBSNmNnSTpz/
I saw a space shuttle launch from AR many years ago so I knew it was possible to see a Florida rocket launch there, but it was a totally unexpected bonus to see this one!
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/10/2024 (The One with the Aurora Photos) Yesterday was a busy night at Alpha Ridge Park. We had 8 members showing up and also a lot of non-members. For a lot of us, it was the first time experiencing auroras so you could hear the excited shouts when they became visible with the naked eye. Unfortunately, we did have some issues with some people leaving the park and not closing the gates behind them, resulting in way too many vehicles coming in with high beams and driving fast by the observatory, making us feel uneasy and spending so much energy in turning them away. I also had some people telling me “Their friend” from HAL, told them to go there but their friend was not with them. Please correct me if I am wrong but we are only supposed to have a certain amount of guests at private events and they are under our responsibility, so members have to be present with their guests. I would like to ask all members to please don’t send family or friends to the park during impromptu star parties, especially if you’re not going to be there because they are going to be turned away and if it gets out of control, I will end the impromptu star party if I am hosting it (I was about to do it last night because it got a little bit out of control and I spent more time stressed about it than enjoying the event). I understand these are wonderful natural events and they are not very common, but we also have a responsibility to the park and the other members, and my priority when I host is to do my best to keep it safe and enjoyable for our members. Keyholders also want to be able to enjoy their time there rather than wasting energy asking people to leave or join the club (We actually got at least 2 new members last night who signed up to stay for the event). We offer public star parties once a month for the general public to go there if they want to. I am including here some of my pictures of the aurora for you to see how it looked. We closed the park around 1:20 am with no other incidents. Jose Urias
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/08/2024 (The One with Elusive Photons but Clear Skies After Midnight ) We had to work hard for photons for the first part of the night at Alpha Ridge Park — clouds kept blowing through every 20 to 30 minutes. But just after midnight the skies cleared and the second half of the night was very nice. Nine HAL members came out for the tussle with the clouds, and two of us enjoyed the clear skies after midnight. As usual, the observers represented a wide range of techniques and targets. Dana stopped by to pick up the HAL loaner Seestar S50 smart scope, and to get some help using it from Steve. Steve was using his Seestar S50 for imaging while doing some visual observing with his 8-inch Dob-mounted Newtonian. Ernie also used an 8-inch Dob-mounted Newt while imaging the North American and Pelican Nebulae as a mosaic and M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) with his Vaonis Vespera smart scope. Gary also combined techniques by visually observing with his Celestron 9.25-inch SCT and imaging with his new Celestron Origin smart scope. The rest of us restricted ourselves to a single observing mode. Dave was imaging with his Seestar S50, and I imaged the galaxy cluster Abell 347 with my 8-inch RC. Victor used the HALO Illig scope to image the Veil Nebula between the clouds. Benjamin imaged with his Apertura 75Q refractor. Finally, Alvin imaged M33 with his Svbony 80mm refractor while experimenting with nightscape photography with a star tracker. Despite the clouds during the first half of the night, it was a fine night of observing and conversing. It’s always great to see members helping each other out — that’s one of the reasons being a HAL member is so rewarding. I look forward to doing it all again soon! I locked the gate at 4:05am. Wayne B.Impromptu Star Party (Carrs Mill) 10/06/2024 (The One with Several Early Birds but No Comet) Well, [10/06 was] just one of those days which the odds are against common sense, but you still want to give it a try. Because it is fun! I opened Carrs Mill gate at 4:20 am and in total 4 members showed up. No complaints about the sky condition (definitely more stars visible than Alpha Ridge) and the open eastern horizon, albeit the three feet tall grasses are too wet (I am still drying my shoes on deck). For a while, Jim was literally hiding in the grass jungle. When Stellarium told me C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is at the horizon around 6:20 am, the eastern horizon was already too bright for objects with magnitude of 1 (my ZWO exposure time had to be reduced to less than 10 ms per frame to avoid the saturation). I was able to capture a passing airplane (because it is black against the sunlight). We started to wrap up around 6:40 and I left the last around 7:10 am. The gate was left open. Best luck to C/2023 A3 to pass the perihelion! RichardMembers-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 10/05/2024 (The One with TBD ) [TBD – Awaiting report.]Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 9/14/2024 (The One With 300 Stargazers and 23 Scopes) See Victor’s report on a separate page. Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 9/02/2024 (The One with Great Conditions and Naked-Eye Milky Way)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/24/2024 (The One with a Fire Meteor and Smoke Screen) The impromptu star party last night was quite busy. Eight HAL members joined the party. The Park Ranger showed up around 9 pm and kindly unlocked the bathroom for us (and kept it open with a door blocker). I watched a small fire meteor in the southeast sky around 9:30 pm, the first one in my life. The meteor lasted at least one second. The weather was quite cooperative with no cloud patches interfering. However, the smoke screen became an issue after 11 pm, especially in the southern sky. We started to wrap up around 11:30 pm. I locked the bathroom and park gate around 12:10 am. I managed to capture some photons from the eagle nebula before the smoke screen kicked in: https://www.flickr.com/photos/191436936@N02/53947440475/in/album-72177720315183401 Richard RenImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/23/2024 (The One with 13 Night Owls) The night of 08/23 was pretty nice and 13 members showed up to the party, some of them attending for the first time to an impromptu star party. The weather was nice, not too cold or hot, and thankfully, there were no mosquitoes (at least they didn’t bother me that night). I closed the park close to 3 am with 2 other members who stayed that late and we had no inconveniences. Jose UriasImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/11/2024 (The One with a Meteor Shower!) [On 8/11] we had a phenomenal time at Alpha Ridge park observing the meteor shower. We had a total of 6 members showing up and 5 of us stayed until the end. Despite the clouds, we were able to enjoy moments of clarity, nice conversations, a tiny glimpse of Aurora, and Brownies brought by Dana. The clouds appeared and disappeared throughout the night but for the most part they stayed away from the Cassiopeia area where we were able to observe most of the Meteors. We closed the park around 2:20 am with no inconveniences. There are 2 things that are worth mentioning though. The bungee cord we have used before to keep the gates closed disappeared so we used the chain to keep the gate closed, and we don’t have any more sheets to log the Star parties in the log book in the observatory. Jose UriasPublic Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 8/10/2024 (The One with Tropical Storm Concerns and a Cub Scout Troop) See Neville’s report with photos submitted by 3 members/officers. Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/28/2024 (The One with Imaging Between the Clouds and Smoke) HAL’s July 28 impromptu star party was a marginal success, having high clouds and possibly wildfire smoke around all evening. It was too cloudy to do much observing early, but four of us showed up to give it a try. Ernie was observing visually with his 8-inch Newtonian on a Dob mount. Unfortunately, he was having issues with his cell phone finder device and could not find his targets. The problem was probably the sky conditions interfering with the wide-angle view of the sky and failing to get a good plate solve solution, and he left by about 11pm. Late in the evening, around 11:15pm, conditions started getting better, but they never became good; just good enough to keep imaging through/between the clouds. Sundar was using a 130mm Newtonian for visual observing while acquiring images with the HAL loaner Seestar S50 smartscope. After some initial pointing issues with the Seestar, he managed to obtain a reasonable image of M51 as it was in a relatively clear region in the northwestern sky. Benjamin was using a Rokinon telephoto lens with a ZWO color camera equipped with an Optolong L-Extreme dualband (H-alpha and [OIII]) filter to image the Rho Ophiuchi area far in the south, and later the Veil Nebula. The clouds were something of a problem, but he managed to get some acceptable data. I used my 8-inch RC monochrome camera with H-alpha and [OIII] filters to image a portion of the western Veil nebula. At about 1:30am the night-ending round of clouds came in and Benjamin and I started closing up. I locked the gate at 2:35am. Thanks to everyone who came out — it was nice seeing you and chatting. Hopefully we can all do it again sometime soon! Wayne B.Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/14/2024 (The One with Some Ups and Downs, Improving After Midnight)
Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/13/2024 (The One with 20 Scopes and New Kid-Friendly Activity Tent)
Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/06/2024 (The One with almost New Moon but Clouds) It was a hot day and evening, and 6 HAL members tried to enjoy the night of almost New Moon for the July Members-Only Star Party at Alpha Ridge Park. Unfortunately, the skies were cloudy and the hoped-for clearing never materialized, so we started packing up just after 10pm; I closed the gate at 10:50pm. Thanks to the members who came out for the disappointing conditions; I enjoyed chatting with each of you and hope see you all again on a clear night soon. Wayne B.Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/02/2024 (The One with More Eagle Nebula Photos)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 7/01/2024 (The One with a Clear Skies Cool Weather)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 6/21/2024 (The One with a Strawberry Moon and Suboptimal Conditions) It was a hot day and evening, and seven HAL members and guests enjoyed the night of the Strawberry Moon for an impromptu star party at Alpha Ridge Park. The skies were mostly clear but very hazy, resulting in poor transparency; this is typical for a triple-H — hot, hazy, and humid — summer day in Maryland. Also common with triple-H days is good seeing, and the atmosphere was steady most of the night. The Full Moon was low in the southeast at sunset and added greatly to the sky brightness, so with the poor transparency it was not a night for visual observations of faint fuzzies. Richard used his Televue TV-85 APO doublet refractor to tour the sky. Ernie viewed with a Celestron 8-inch StarSense Newtonian and concentrated on double stars and open clusters — he observed the double stars Epsilon Lyrae, Algieba (Gamma Leonis), Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris), the open cluster Caldwell 37 (NGC 6885) in Vulpecula, and the Coathanger asterism (Brocchi’s Cluster) in Vulpecula. We had two Loyola students show up looking for a place to look at the stars, so they camped out in a corner of the parking lot and did their thing. I told them about HAL and gave them business cards; they sounded interested in checking us out further. The remaining three members were imaging. Alvin used an SVBONY 80mm refractor to image M4 (globular cluster in Scorpius) plus a nearby reflection nebula, with the primary goal being the reflection nebula. However, he fell victim to the bright skies and poor transparency and went to plan B, the North America Nebula in Cygnus, with much greater success. Anil used his Stellarvue 102P refractor to image the Pelican Nebula in Cygnus using narrowband (SHO) filters, while I gathered H-alpha images of M51 (Whirlpool Galaxy) in Canes Venatici with my 8-inch RC in hopes of using it for the June Discord Object of the Month, and an hour of LRGB of M13 (globular cluster) in Hercules. Thanks to the members who came out for the somewhat disappointing conditions; I enjoyed chatting with each of you and hope see you all again on a clear night soon. Anil and I locked the gate at 3:50am. Wayne B.Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 6/15/2024 (The One with Over 250 People!)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 6/11 & 12/2024 (The One with Two Reports in One) I am sorry I am doing a dual report but I figured since it was a back to back situation it would be better to condense it. Starting with 06/11, we had 5 members coming, some to image and some to do visual astronomy with their dobsonians. I was very surprised to see how amazing the star sense push-to scopes works, making the star hopping process a little bit easier. We had no eventualities and closed the park around midnight. Yesterday (6/12) we had 4 members visiting and this time it was a combination of dobsonian and Seestar scopes. I never thought of how great and “inexpensive” it can be now to get a big dobsonian with some push to device to enjoy visual astronomy and have a Seestar running in the background for doing some imaging of things that look faint on an eye piece. I closed the park around 11:40 with no eventualities. I want to thank everyone for being so diligent at closing the gates behind them when they come to or leave the park. It make us all feel safer and enjoy the park without worrying about unknown people. Jose U.Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 6/07/2024 (The One with the Black Eye Galaxy and Hungry Mosquitoes) Four HAL members (me, Ken, Kurt, and Sundar) showed up at an impromptu star party last night. As forecast predicted, the evening cloud gradually dissipated starting at 9 pm. The clear sky continued till 11:30 pm when a huge cluster of clouds moved in from the south. So we started to wrap up and left Alpha Ridge around 12:15 am. Ken volunteered to lock the gate behind me. I managed to process most of the so-so photons collected from Black Eye Galaxy in a so-so night. https://www.flickr.com/photos/191436936@N02/53776348907/in/album-721777203151 83401/ I got quite a few mosquito bites last night. For those who will join the member’s only star party tonight, be prepared to have bug spray at hand. Richard R.Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/31/2024 (The One with a Lengthy Report)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/30/2024 (The One with Sharing of Knowledge and Anecdotes ) Last night was cloudy for most of the night, however, 8 members showed up and even though conditions were not the best until about 11 pm, everyone enjoyed the usual nerdy conversations about astronomy and telescopes. I personally loved how everyone shared some of their knowledge and anecdotes to help newer members with advice on how to use their current equipment. There was a fair amount of Seestar S50 scopes last night and I got to try the club’s one as well. I am attaching an image I took of M27 with the seestar. The night was a little chilly but comfortable enough to stay for a long time. I closed the gates of the park at 12:25pm and thanks to everyone closing the gates behind them, we didn’t experience any issues involving other vehicles coming to the park. Jose UriasImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/24/2024 (The One with the Lone Park Ranger) I went to the park tonight by 7:45 and waited until it was dark to start imaging. For some reason I was not able to plate solve tonight so I was fighting my scope for a while. At some point a police officer came to inquire what I was doing alone in the park so I informed her of what I was doing. A few minutes later it was the park ranger who came for the same reason despite having called the ranger office before my arrival. He advised it was probably not a good idea for me to stay there on my own so I packed my stuff I headed back home after closing the observatory. It was a little sad not being able to enjoy a clear night but I think it was best to leave after that. The ranger was nice enough to wait for me so he closed the front gates of the park. Jose UriasImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/21/2024 (The One with Shallow Sky Observing and M81 Popularity) Approximately 10 HAL members and guests took advantage of the pleasant conditions for last night’s impromptu star party. There were high, thin, clouds around all night, but they were thin enough to observe through. The transparency was not good, but the seeing was pretty good, so it worked out well for shallow-sky observing. The Moon was quite bright. It seemed that most people were checking out equipment and working on issues, while a few people made some serious attempts at observing and imaging. Ernie brought his 8-inch Newtonian on a Dob mount, and used his cell phone push-to app to see a variety of clusters and double stars. Jose and his brother were working to focus the off-axis guide camera on his Celestron 8-inch SCT scope. Despite being unsuccessful, he used the scope to capture images of M81 (Bode’s Galaxy) and another object or two. He also used HAL’s Seestar to capture images of M81 and M51 — he was quite impressed with the performance of the scope. Dave took some images with his Seestar S50 scope, too. Gary and his guest worked out some pointing issues he had been having with his new 10-inch Celestron SCT. Dani imaged M81 with her Redcat 50 scope with a DSLR and a ZWO AM5 mount. Krystal worked with her Dwarf imaging scope. Alvin used his Svbony refractor to image M81 — it seems like everyone decided to image it! He showed me an impressive post-perihelion image of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks that he took from a farm near Westminster. Finally, I spent the night working with NINA’s polar alignment tool to try to find the best parameters for my equipment. I did manage two short exposures in the process: 32 minutes of Luminance on galaxy M94 and 60 minutes of Luminance on M13. It was great to see so many people on a Tuesday night! I enjoyed chatting with each of you and hope see you all again on a clear night soon. I locked the gate at 2:45am. Wayne B.Public Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/18/2024 (The One with 2 Hours without Clouds)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/13/2024 (The One with Two Keyholders and Lots of DSOs) This evening an impromptu was called. The weather forecast called for clear skies to turn cloudy between 8-10 pm. One other member said they would join us but at the last minute was unable to come. The 28% Waxing Crescent Moon was beautiful in the north-west sky at dusk. Chris Todd and I met-up at HALO at 7pm and went through the newly revised/updated protocols to open HALO and start up the Illig Telescope with no problems. We were able to observe the Moon during early twilight deep into dusk. The clouds graciously stayed away and we then turned the Illig Scope to look at and capture images of the Leo Triplet(M66, M65 and NCG 3628). We looked at some of the many Messier Objects in Cancer and Leo including: the Black Eye Galaxy (M64), Coma Berenices (M85 and M53) and the Golden Eye Cluster (M67). After this we then shut-down the Illig Telescope and closed up HALO and locked up the park at 11pm. Cheryl KerrImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/12/2024 (The One with a Happy First-Time Keyholder) I hosted my very first Star Party last night at Alpha Ridge Park. I arrived at the park around 7:45 pm while there was still some sunlight so I could take my time to get everything ready. Before any other members arrived a little bit after sunset, a few families started to come to the park as I left the gate open for HAL members. I had to politely ask them all to leave and at some point when I was certain no one else would come I closed the gate. The members who arrived were Cheryl Kerr, who tried taking some pictures of Aurora, Dana Porter, and Michael (whose last name I forgot to write down), and we also welcomed a new member, Ramani, who joined on the spot thanks to Dana and Cheryl’s encouragement. As for observations, the night was mostly cloudy and chill. We were not able to spot the Aurora and I forgot my dew heater ring so my scope was completely covered in dew, however, the night was very pleasant filled with geeky conversations about Auroras, astronomy equipment, and space. I closed the park around 11:45 pm after we decided we would not see Auroras. Finally, I want to add that I am really happy to have become a keyholder as most of you must have seen me asking for someone to open the park before. I am always eager to go to Alpha Ridge when the weather is nice enough as I don’t have a backyard or a place dark enough to use my telescope otherwise, so if the conditions are good, expect me to offer an impromptu. I will also write this as a reminder whenever I call for an impromptu, but I will be closing the gates (not locked) from now on after sunset so no unknown people come there, so you will have to move the chain, open the gate and close it behind you. This is for everyone’s safety so we can focus on observing or doing our activities rather than wondering who is accessing the park and what they are doing. Thank you for your attention and keep looking up! Jose UriasMembers-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/04/2024 (The One with May the Fourth) Well… as you can imagine… it wasn’t much of a star party tonight as the skies were overcast and we had precipitation, ranging from light rain to a fine mist, all evening at Alpha Ridge. Three members came out and socialized for a while within HALO and we wrapped up shop around 9:30 pm. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for better weather at our upcoming events. Best regards and clear skies, VictorImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 5/01/2024 (The One with a Cool, Clear Sky)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/28/2024 (The One with a Very Lovely Evening) Upon arrival yesterday evening at approx 7:20 pm high thin clouds were present over the western and north western skies. These clouds began to break up and thin out just as Polaris became visible at dusk. From then on the skies improved and became clear. Temps were very lovely all evening. Five HAL members joined me for a very lovely evening among the stars: Gary Richardson came specifically to work on a new mount and tighten-up tracking. Grace Coventry spent time focused on gathering nebulosity in Orion and practising with her new move-shoot-move updated tracker as she gets ready for an upcoming trip to Namibia. Alvin Savage spent the evening tracking and gathering data on NCG 4495, a lovely galaxy. Jose Urias spent the evening tracking and gathering data on M81-Bodes. Ernie Morse spent the evening visualizing various Messier objects and the Eskimo Nebula. My purpose for the evening was to attach a polar scope to the AVX mount and work on tracking. Gary was a life saver for me and helped me align which enabled me to track and photograph M61. We closed up at 11:45 pm and locked the gates at 11:55 PM. Cheryl KerrPublic Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/13/2024 (The One with a Separate Page of Post-Total Solar Eclipse Excitement) See Krystal’s report with photos submitted by 2 members/officers. Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 4/06/2024 (The One with a Relaxing Evening) Member star party tonight turned out to be a nice relaxing evening. We had 5 folks join us, and while the night started off looking pretty clear, it got cloudy by 8:30 and we left the park around 10pm. Jared CasePublic Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/16/2024 (The One with 2 Separate Pages of Photos) See Mike’s report with 2 pages of photos submitted by 4 members/officers. Members-Only Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 3/09/2024 (The One with a Thunderstorm) The rain turned into a thunderstorm when I arrived at Alpha Ridge about 5:50 pm. Two other members joined me today when I did a dry run of the Illig. All the gears were running smoothly and are ready for next week’s public star party. I locked the observatory at 6:30. Richard RenImpromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 2/19/2024 (The One with a Bright Moon, Freezing Temperatures, but No Frost)
Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 2/03/2024 (The One with 10 HAL Members Enjoying Cold but Clear Skies) We had a sizable turnout for last night’s impromptu star party at Alpha Ridge Park with 10 HAL members taking advantage of the cold, clear skies. Temperatures were cold, but not terribly so, and the wind was calm all night. A handful of clouds blew through at around 9pm but they didn’t interfere with observing. The combination of cold temperatures and calm winds led to some frost on the cars but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Dana came to check out the library — she took a couple of books home with her — and just to enjoy the evening. Peter brought his 12-inch Meade SCT on his new Losmandy mount so that he could work out the process for using the mount with some visual observing; Victor assisted him with some of the more obscure aspects of controlling the mount. The remainder of the observers were imaging, and we had a veritable sea of SeeStar S50 imaging scopes. William (Peter’s son) was using a SeeStar to image some of the scopes best objects of the night, while David was imaging M33 (Triangulum Galaxy) with his. David started out with success but then experienced some issues with tracking objects. Steve and Bob were also using SeeStars and spent some time familiarizing themselves with their systems. Benjamin spent the night imaging the Christmas Tree cluster with his Apertura 75Q refractor with a couple of dual-band narrowband filters to get a complete Hubble palette set. Victor measured his filter offsets on his 130mm AstrPhysics refractor using a RST135E harmonic drive mount. He also used the Illig scope in HALO to image the Horsehead Nebula in Orion and start learning NINA’s advanced sequencing capability. Finally, I used my 8-inch RC to obtain narrowband images of the Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) for the January/February Discord group Object of the (Two) Month(s) activity. After a long night of delightful observing, I locked the gate at 2:45am. Thanks to the many HAL members who came out to enjoy the near-perfect conditions! Wayne B.Impromptu Star Party (Alpha Ridge) 1/02/2024 (The One with 7 Cold Deep Sky Imagers to Kick Off 2024)
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