News

Winning Clubs of the 2015 Horkheimer Library Telescope Program

July 16, 20150 commentsUncategorized
Because of the generosity and vision of the Horkheimer Charitable Fund, the Astronomical League presented ten Library Telescopes at ALCon 2015 in Las Cruces. The names of ten clubs, one from each region, were drawn from the thirty-three total entries. These clubs will each receive an Orion 4.5 inch StarBlast Dobsonian Telescope, a Celestron 8-24 mm zoom eyepiece, and a commemorative plate, all to be modified by the respective club as a Library Telescope.
 
The Astronomical League wishes to thank Orion Telescopes and Celestron for making this program possible.
 
2015 Horkheimer Library Telescopes:

 

Northwest Region: Olympic Astronomical Society
Western Region: Temecula Valley Astronomers
MARS: Longmont Astronomical Society
Southwest Region: Houston Astronomical Society
North Central Region: Northern Cross Science Foundation
Mid States Region: Broken Arrow Sidewalk Astronomers
Great Lakes Region: Oakland Astronomy Club
Northeast Region: Amateur Observers’ Society of New York
Mid East Region: Back Bay Amateur Astronomers
Southeast Region: Flint River Astronomical Society
 
More information on the Library Telescope Program can be found at
 

Continue reading

Business Tips We Learned (2015)

July 13, 20150 commentsUncategorized

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut suscipit elit sed diam ultrices hendrerit. Vestibulum feugiat, urna eget ullamcorper tristique, est erat egestas diam, ac imperdiet libero neque sed velit. Curabitur fringilla tortor vitae nisi mattis, dignissim faucibus purus dictum. Sed vel volutpat sapien. Morbi quis tristique dolor. Fusce nec mattis diam. Duis rutrum vitae erat vel fringilla.

Continue reading

What’s Up Doc? Distribution List (2015)

April 13, 20150 commentsUncategorized

If you would like to be added to automatically receive the monthly What’s Up Doc?, please send an email to Aaron Clevenson at aaron@clevenson.org

This is a monthly newsletter created by Aaron Clevenson, one of the National Observing Program Directors and the Insperity Observatory in Humble, TX.  It is a listing of many objects that will be visible in the evening sky each month based on the Astronomical League’s Observing Programs.  It is primarily oriented towards the introductory level programs.

The next issue will be sent on April 30.

Recognize Youth Accomplishments: The Astronomical League’s Horkheimer Youth Service Awards deadline extended to April 30, 2015!

April 8, 20150 commentsUncategorized

The deadline for submitting nominations for the three Horkheimer Youth Service Awards – Horkheimer/Smith, Horkheimer/Parker, and Horkheimer/D’Auria – has been extended to April 30, 2015.

If you know an Astronomical League member, 18 years or younger, who has brought amateur astronomy to your club or to the public through outreach, presentations, writing, or observing, please consider nominating that person for the three Horkheimer Service Awards.

If you are a club officer, nominate them. If you don’t, no one else will! Complete information about Horkheimer Youth Service awards can be found at https://www.astroleague.org//al/awards/horkhmr/horkhmrs.html

 
 

Walter Haas 1917-2015

April 6, 20150 commentsUncategorized

Walter Haas, Founder of the ASLC and ALPO, passed away Monday morning, April 6 at 6:10 am. 

A viewing will be available on Monday, April 13 at Lapaz-Graham Funeral Home, 555 West Amador, Las Cruces from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm.  Services will be held on Tuesday, April 14, at the First Presbyterian Church, 200 East Boutz, at 10:00 am.

At the request of the family, donations may be made to either your local hospice, or to the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, ALPO, attention Matthew Will, PO Box 13456, Springfield, IL 62791.

The Astronomical League is Giving Away up to Ten Library Telescopes! (2014)

April 2, 20150 commentsUncategorized

Through  the  vision  of  the  Horkheimer  Charitable  Fund,  the  Astronomical  League  is offering a free Library Telescope to a lucky Astronomical League club  in each of the ten AL regions. The Library Telescope consists of an Orion 4.5 inch StarBlast Dobsonian (or equivalent) and a  Celestron 8-24 mm zoom eyepiece (or equivalent), and a name plate commemorating   the   late   Jack   Horkheimer.   The   value   of   this   opportunity  is approximately $300; the potential of the program is enormous.

The  Library  Telescope  Program  was  initiated  by  the  New  Hampshire  Astronomical Society.  Clubs  donate  an  easy-to-use,  portable  telescope  with  quality  optics  and  a sturdy mount to their  local  library. Patrons can then  check  it out as they do books. Full details of this  wonderful  program can be found at https://www.astroleague.org/library-telescope-program

The  winning  entry for  each  region  will  be drawn  at  the  annual  Astronomical  League Business meeting held at ALCon  in  Las  Cruces on  about  July 11.  Only one club per region will win for a total of ten telescope–eyepiece combinations being presented. The telescope,  eyepiece,  and  accompanying  commemorative  plate  will  be  mailed  to  the winning clubs in the two weeks following ALCon.

By entering  the  drawing  for  the telescope,  the club agrees to modify the telescope and zoom eyepiece, and  have  the  telescope  library-ready  within  three months  of  receipt.  The Astronomical  League  would like  a  photograph  of  the  modified  telescope  being presented  to  the  library.   It   may  be  used  in  the Reflector   and   may   be   used   at   some   point   as promotional material.

Submit  the  completed  entry  form  to HorkheimerLiTel@astroleague.org so  that  the Astronomical  League  national  office  receives  it by  July  1,  2015.  If  mailed,  the  entry  should  be postmarked no later than July 1, 2015.

Continue reading

Name features on Pluto and Charon (2015)

March 20, 20150 commentsUncategorized

MOUNTAIN VIEW – On July 14, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto, offering the first close-up look at that small, distant world and its largest moon, Charon.  These denizens of the outer solar system will be transformed from poorly seen, hazy bodies to tangible worlds with distinct features.

Now, the public can help decide what labels will go on the images and maps coming from the flyby.  The SETI Institute has announced the launch of its “Our Pluto” campaign, which is soliciting input on how to name features on the surfaces of Pluto and Charon. 

“Pluto belongs to everyone,” says New Horizon science team member Mark Showalter, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute.  “So we want everyone to be involved in making the map of this distant world.” 

The science team will not have time to come up with names during the quick flyby, so they must assemble a library of names in advance.  Consequently, they are inviting the public to visit the web site http://ourpluto.seti.org  where they can vote for the names they think should be used to identify the most prominent features on both Pluto and Charon. They can also suggest additional names.  These must be associated with a set of broad themes related to mythology and the literature and history of exploration.

After the campaign ends on April 7, the New Horizons team will sort through the names and submit their recommendations to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The IAU will decide how the names are used.

Currently, the best images of Pluto from the Hubble Space Telescope provide just a hint of what might be in store for the New Horizons cameras. It shows a world marked by sharp contrasts, with some areas as dark as asphalt and others as bright as snow.

“The Pluto flyby this summer will be a major milestone in planetary exploration,” said Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of the New Horizons project. “We are really looking forward to hearing the public’s ideas for feature naming on Pluto and Charon.”

Showalter led the teams that used the Hubble Space Telescope to discover the two smallest known moons of Pluto, Kerberos and Styx. Those satellites were also named via a public campaign.

“The difference is that last time we only needed two names, whereas now we could need more than a hundred,” Showalter notes. “We are eager to gather recommendations from people all over the world.” The web site also includes an extremely simple ballot to allow young children to participate.

More information about the New Horizons mission:

http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons

Continue reading

Scroll to top