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The Astronomical League’s Horkheimer Youth Service Awards 2017 — Nominate Now!
Wouldn’t it be great to be young again and to be entering amateur astronomy! Now is the time to nominate qualified young people for the Astronomical League’s Horkheimer Youth Service Awards for 2017: Horkheimer/Smith and Horkheimer D’Auria Youth Service Awards, the Horkheimer/Parker Youth Imaging Award, and the Horkheimer/O’Meara Journalism Award.
If you know a League member, 18 years or younger, who has brought amateur astronomy to your club or to the public through outreach, presentations, writing, observing, or imaging, please consider nominating that person for one of the four Horkheimer Awards.
This year only, the deadline for the suite of Horkheimer Awards is February 15, 2017 (and not March 31, as it has been in previous years).
In addition to receiving a check for $1750, the 2017 Horkheimer/Smith Youth Service Award winner will be treated to a trip to NEAF on April 8.
If you are a club officer, nominate them. If you don’t, no one else will! Complete information about each award can be found at test.astroleague.org/al/awards/awards.html
Solar Eclipse 2017 – Special Observing Award
Details of this Special Observing Award are now available on the AL Website here. Imaging the star field without the influence of the Sun’s gravity should be done before we get close to the eclipse. So the time to get started is now. Good Luck. Aaron Clevenson – Coordinator
Shallow Sky Object of the Month: Aldebaran – the eye of the bull
By Bill Pellerin, Houston Astronomical Society
When you see the constellation Taurus and the nearby and popular constellation of Orion you know it’s winter. Well winter officially began at 10:44 a.m. (UT) on December 21. Those of us who live in the southern United States are now having days of cool temperatures and days of warm temperatures while the weather figures out what season it wants to be. Northerners are, according to news reports, having quite cold weather and some snow.
If it’s too cold for you to get outside and set up your telescope for an extended observing session there are still plenty of objects to admire with a quick visit to the back yard. The object this month is a very bright star, obvious to the unaided eye in the constellation Taurus. Aldebaran, a K star, stands out for both its brightness and its color, a bright orange / red that’s not duplicated by any nearby stars. To see a redder star, look to Betelgeuse, which is a M class star.
So, what are we looking at here? Aldebaran is slightly variable, from .75 magnitude to .95 magnitude, but this change in magnitude is not easily visible to anyone making visual observations. A photometric observer could detect this change, but a quick check of the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers) finds no data for this star submitted.
2017 Solar Eclipse – “I Saw the Eclipse” Certificate
A certificate has been added to the AL Website to give to people who see the 2017 Eclipse at your Eclipse Viewing Party.
Are you planning an Eclipse Viewing Party? The AL has a certificate that you can download, print and distribute to attendees. It is available under the Observe option at the top of every web page. Hover over “Observe” and a list will appear. Select (click) Downloadable Certificates and it will be the first certificate included.
There will also soon be a web page with information about the AL’s 2017 Eclipse Special Observing Award. It will include requirements, options, and instructions. Watch here for an announcement.
Educational Outreach Funding for the August Total Solar Eclipse: the Julena Steinheider Duncombe Mini-Grants Program
Does your club have an idea on how it can bring the science of the coming total solar eclipse to the public? Does your club need funding to do so?
The American Astronomical Society is issuing a call for proposals for “mini” grants: “Engaging the Public with the Solar Eclipse.” Support for the mini grants is provided by the US National Science Foundation.
Complete details of this exciting public education opportunity can be found at
December 2016 Digital Reflector Announcement has been sent
Announcement of the December 2016 digital edition of the Reflector has been emailed to all members.
If you did not receive the announcement it is probably because:
- Your email service provider has marked email from the League as spam; to prevent this add support@astroleague.org to your email service contact list
- We do not have an email address for you
- The email address we have for you is not valid
If you did not receive a notice and you are a member of an affiliated club or a member-at-large, honorary or lifetime member send me an email to webmaster@astroleague.org .
Let me know the name of your local club name or other affiliation and your first and last name and a current email and I’ll update your information.