July 2015

Dennis di Cicco wins NERAL 2015 Walter Scott Houston Award!

It is my great pleasure to announce that, by unanimous vote of the NERAL Executive Committee, the Walter Scott Houston Award of the North East Region of the Astronomical League (NERAL) is being awarded to Dennis di Cicco of Sudbury, Massachusetts at this year’s Stellafane Convention in Springfield, Vermont on Saturday evening, August 15, 2015.

Dennis di Cicco’s famous award winning photograph of the Sun’s analemma in the 1970s was a milestone in his astrophotography career.  A long time Stellafane devotee, he was inspired to build his own backyard observatory which he would put to good use for many decades to come.  He was recognized for his observational talents in 1997 with the Astronomical League’s Leslie C. Peltier Award for his significant observations of minor planets, lunar & planetary astronomy, and general astronomy.  In 1978 he was presented the Clifford W. Holmes Award at Riverside Telescope Makers Conference Astronomy Expo for his work popularizing astronomy.

Since then he has gone on to make great contributions as a writer and Senior Editor for CCD Astronomy quarterly and most notably for Sky & Telescope Magazine from 1974 through 2014.  His generosity in sharing his knowledge in articles, equipment test reports, eclipse trips and talks with the amateur astronomy community at clubs and star parties across the country makes him a star on our earthly sphere for which we are extremely grateful.

On Behalf of the North East Region of the Astronomical League, we are very pleased to give this award to this amateur astronomer, astrophotographer and writer who used the professional world to promote and increase the visibility of astronomy for our community.

Congratulations, Dennis!

Very sincerely,

Maryann Arrien
Chair: NERAL – The North East Region of the Astronomical League
www.neral.org

 

EarthSky partners with the Astronomical League

EarthSky and the Astronomical League have agreed to partner in the years 2016 to 2018 to bring the wonder, beauty, and mystery of the night sky to the public. The partnership was finalized today (July 30,  2015).  John Goss, president of the Astronomical League, said:
The Astronomical League, the nation’s largest federation of astronomical societies, is  proud  to  partner  with  EarthSky  …  We  recognize  the  importance  of  what stargazing  and   amateur  astronomy  offer  to  the  betterment  of  our  society, especially to the benefit of our young.

Among many other activities,  the Astronomical  League hosts a national meeting for  all  people  interested  in  astronomy.  It’s  called  ALCon,  and  you  are  hereby invited.

Deborah Byrd, founder and editor-in-chief of EarthSky, added:
We are thrilled and honored to be  partnering with the  Astronomical League, and we’ve  got  some  exciting  plans  for  the  coming  three  years.  For  example,  after surveying  our  audience and getting  their ideas on what they want to see,  we’ve been working toward a slightly different design for our website (bigger pictures!), which we hope to implement in early 2016. We also hope to add two new features to  EarthSky.org,  first,  a  global  map  where  people  can  pinpoint  their  favorite stargazing locations, and, second, a calendar of events (star parties and the like) that people can attend and enjoy. The Astronomical League will be helping us with both features, and we are grateful for their support.

In the coming three years, we also want to help our audience understand, prepare for and
enjoy the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, which will be visible from North America.
And  we  want to continue  building  providing  information about astronomy to our audience,  enabling  them  to  take  next  steps  toward  enjoying  astronomy  as  a lifetime pursuit.
The  partnership  will  include  co-promotion  of  EarthSky  and  the  Astronomical League in each organization’s outreach to club members and the public. And it will include an exchange of information, designed to help each group accomplish their goals.
Bottom  line: EarthSky and the Astronomical  League announced a partnership for the years 2016-2018.

Master Observers wanted

If you are a Master Observer, we want you!  The AL has a Master Observer Network set up to answer questions from members and the general public.  It is also a means for the League to talk with you as a group. If you are already on the list – Awesome!  If not, please join us.  

Please send an email to Aaron Clevenson, an AL Observing Program Director, at aaron@clevenson.org.  Please include your name and your MO number.  We are trying to have the list updated by 8/15/2015.  Thanks.  Aaron

New Horizons NASA Observing Challenge

This is a reminder that the third NASA Observing Challenge is “On!” (an AL Special Observing Award)
The website:  https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/challenges.cfm
The requirements:
        Image Pluto and submit it to the NASA Flicker site.
        Have an outreach event regarding the New Horizons encounter with Pluto.
        Submit the form to NASA.
The reward:
        A NASA/AL certificate.

Winning Clubs of the 2015 Horkheimer Library Telescope Program

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
 

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