In this issue:

• Call for Volunteer Advertising Coordinator for Reflector Magazine
• AL Live January 24
• Youth Award Programs
• Williamina Fleming Imaging Award Program
• Sketching Award Competition
• Digital only Reflector for March 2025

Download the newsletter Whats Up with Astro League January 11 2025

The Astronomical League is excited to announce that we have four new Coordinators that have been appointed by Chuck Allen, the AL President.

• Raymond B Howard, Caldwell OP
• Lauren Rogers, Flat Galaxy OP
• Bruce P. Bookout, Space Weather OP
• Jack Fitzmier, Solar Neighborhood OP

Reminder – do your  January obserations ASAP…  2025 is the Hubble Telescope’s 35th Anniversary.  To celebrate this awesome 35 years, NASA and the Astronomical League is bring you a year-long Special Observing Award.  There are monthly silver level certificates, and there is a gold level certificate and pin at the end as well.  Note:  The gold level requires more monthly observations than the individual silver levels…  For more information check out the NASA Observing Challenges web page:  https://www.astroleague.org/nasa-observing-challenges-special-awards/

It is time for young people to work on their submissions.  Encourage someone you know to participate.  For more information click o nthe fliers (click Read More to get the active links…

PDF Announcement

JPG Announcement

The Observing Challenge is in full swing on January 1 through December 31, 2025.  If you are doing outreach activities to spread the word about the Hubble Telescope, its fantastic ccomplishments or the Observing Challenge, and you would like to pass out Participation Certificates to your attendees, then we are please to announce that the participant certificate is now available.  It may be downloaded from the Astronomical League’s Downloadable Certificates web page:  https://www.astroleague.org/downloadable-certificates/.  Remember to start your personal observing towards the challenge in January and do your observations each month to go for the gold…

Each January (usually) the League searches for people who are interested in helping out as Observing Program Coordinators.  If you would like to apply, please send an email to Aaron Clevenson at aaron@clevenson.org.  This list of openings may change, but as of now we know we need these positions filled:  Space Weather Observing Program, Caldwell Observing Program, Flat Galaxies, and others.  Please send me an email even if you have already done so, to ensure that we do not miss you.  Thanks.

AL Live in December, featuring Scott Harrington entitled Observing it All with Binoculars.  For more details – click on the link:   https://www.astroleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AL-LIVE-20241206-scaled.jpeg

The November edition of What’s Up with the Astronomical League is available for download  here – Whats Up with Astro League November 2024

Are you an officer in your local astronomical society?  Especially the President or the ALCor?  We have made great progress in getting the individual member societies on the AL web site.  We are about half done, but we need information from the other societies.  This is a great way for potential future members to find you.  The more information you can provide the easier it is for them to reach you, and join!

To find out if we have you in the database:

• Connect to the AL website.
• Hover over Regions & Clubs
• Click on Astronomical Societies
• Click on your State
• If your society is NOT on the list, jump to the next section.
• If your society is on the list, then review that information.
• Then click on your society and review that infoormation as well.
• If you notice any errors, then please send the corrected information to aaron@clevenson.org to be updated.  OFFICERS ONLY should respond!

If your society is NOT in the database, then:

• To make this process work, we need you to use the Google Form link below.  Do NOT send an email.
• Please only have one officer in your club submit the data to the form.  Multiple submissions from the same club cause delays and confusion.
• Please fill in the Google Form at:
  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiGR1EmsVWVqjBm0PglcCLxflFvk4dcGvcSh5kf3e2xPZxaA/viewform?usp=sf_link
• When you fill it in, the data will be collected so that we can post it on the AL website.
• Please have your information submitted by December 15th if possible.  We know this is rather short, but we are trying very hard to get this completed.
• The form is comprehensive.  Please fill in as much of the information as you can.
• You should be able to complete it in 10-15 minutes for most clubs.  (Some clubs that have more information may take a little longer.)

Thanks for helping us help your society reach propective members.

If you are participating in this observing challenge, then you have your first observation already done.  If not, you seem to have plenty of time to get one done.  It has not happened, and the latest prediction I have seen suggests that is could be between March 27 or November 10, 2025 (or later).  Keep your initial observation and watch for news about an eruption.  The Special Observing Challenge is just waiting for it to occur.

For more information on this latest timing approximation, check out this website:  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad8bba.