Introduction

Welcome to the Astronomical League’s
Constellation Hunter Club. The Constellation Hunter
Club has two certifications and pins: The Northern Skies
and the Southern Skies. The purpose of these programs
is to provide an orientation to the sky for novice astronomers.
They require no special equipment (other than a planisphere
and a reference for the brighter star names), and no
prior knowledge. The objective is to provide a forum
for the novice observer to become more familiar with
the constellations and brighter stars, to begin to learn
to navigate among the stars, and to provide a solid
foundation for moving on to other observation programs
such as the Messier Club.

Rules and Regulations

To qualify for the AL’s Constellation
Hunter Certificates and pins, you need only be a member
of the Astronomical League, either through an affiliated
club or as a Member-at-Large, and observe and sketch
all of the constellations on the included on the checklist
that you are pursuing. No equipment is required other
than a planisphere and reference information of the
names of major stars and constellation boundaries. Binoculars,
while not required, will give you a deeper look into
the star fields that you sketch. You should not include
these additional stars and objects on your sketches,
but the view will give you an appreciation for all of
the things that await you in the other Astronomical
League Certification Programs. You should proceed constellation
by constellation. For each constellation, you need to
provide this data:

• Local date and time.
• Latitude and Longitude of observation.
• Constellation name.
• Sky conditions: transparency, and seeing.
• A sketch of all stars that were visible to the
  unaided eye, out to the limits of the constellation’s
  boundary. Named stars should be identified on the
  sketch.
• The sketch should include other objects that are
  visible within the boundaries of the constellation,
  including but not limited to: galaxies, open clusters,
  globular clusters, and nebulas.

You must be a member of the Astronomical
League to receive these certificates. If you are
not a member now, click here to view
information on membership in our organization.

To receive your Constellation Hunter
Certificate and pin, simply send your sketches along
with your name, address, phone number, and society
affiliation, either to your society’s Awards Co-ordinator
for verification, or to:
 
Aaron B. Clevenson
19411 Cluster Oaks Drive
Humble, TX 77346-2918
(281) 852-4667
E-mail: aaron@clevenson.org
 
Upon verification of your observations, your certificate
and pin will be forwarded either to you or your
society’s Awards Coordinator, whomever you choose.

For information on which constellations to study
and sketch, read the Constellation
Hunter Northern Skies Observing Checklist or
the Constellation
Hunter Southern Skies Observing Checklist.