Although not as close as the Grand Conjunction, and admitedly not as grand, on August 18, 2021, we will be treated to a pretty cool conjunction of Mars and Mercury.  They will be under 8 arcminutes apart, but may be a bit of a challenge.  At sunset, they will be at 10 degrees (one fist-width above the horizon) and 273 degrees azimuth (basically west).  They should fit in one field of view for most telescopes at modest power.

Although not part of any of the Astronomical League Observing Programs or Awards, well worth the effort to see this jewel.

An error has been found in the manual.  If you have one of the recent manuals, please check the last item in the table on page 51 (the Brightest Objects in M51 Galaxy Group.).  It should be: UGC 8683.

If you are, then please read this announcement.

When you submit your logs to the Observing Program Coordinator, please ONLY submit observations related to that specific Observing Program.  Extra observations from other Observing Programs may confuse the Coordinators, and may result in the submission being returned to you. 

Thanks.

– The Observing Program Directors

If you are working on one of the Astronomical League’s Observing Programs, it is important for you to understand the specific definitions that will help you meet the requirements of the various Observing Programs.  These web pages will help guide you:

• https://test.astroleague.org//observing.html
• https://test.astroleague.org/terms-common-usage-observing

They discuss what we mean by Seeing and Transparency.  It discusses Manual Observations vs. Go-To Telescopes vs. Remote Telescopes.

Happy Observing.

The Council has approved and we are ready to inaugurate the new Youth Astronomer Observing Program.  For more information, please review the web page for this new and exciting addition to our flock:  https://test.astroleague.org/youth-astronomer-observing-program

This Observing Program is specifically for youth age 17 and younger.

So, maybe you did Sky Puppies, or maybe you are too old to do Sky Puppies, but you are not really ready to take on a full-scale AL Oberving Program.  Where should you go next?  The Youth Astronomer Observing Award.  (Sorry to those over 17 years old, this is not for you…)

We hope you all are having a wonderful, safe, and healthy holiday season.  As we look forward to the new year, we thought it would be a good idea to reinforce details about the certification process.  If it has been a month since you sent in a certification request to one of the Observing Program Coordinators, it is time to send an email inquiry to the Coordinator to ensure that it was received or get an update on its status.

To see more details on how the process works and to understand what your expectations should be, please read on…

We would first like to request that you be patient with the process and the Coordinators.  We are all volunteers, and like everyone else, we are all stressed by the holidays as well as COVID-19.  This means that some activities may take longer than normal.  This is how the system is supposed to work:

• Coordinators try to reply to electronic requests immediately (a day or two), but know that we do travel from time to time, so it may take a week or more.  If it is a paper submission and if you provide an email address, the Coordinator will send an email to that email address.
• Coordinators try to send certifications to those who have earned them within a week or two.  An email from the Coordinator should explain what to expect.  If you have not received it within a month, then please recontact the Coordinator and ask for an update or status.  We have experienced issues that have necessitated a longer review time; illnesses, travel, and problems with the submissions, but our goal is that communications (through email) will explain these situations.
• If it has been over a month, and you have not received any information from the Coordinator, please contact one of the Observing Program Directors and we will follow up on the situation.  (Contact information for the Observing Program Directors can be found on this web page: click here.)

Congratulations on your successes and good luck on your future observations.  Be safe and stay well.