How AL Membership Works

Through the MHAA's group membership to the Astronomical Association, individual MHAA members also qualify to join the AL at a steeply discounted rate. Note that it costs significantly more to be an AL member at-large (i.e. while not being a member of an AL affiliated club) than it does to be an MHAA member and an AL member through the MHAA combined.

Note that payment and your AL membership are handled through the MHAA on a quarterly cycle (by the AL's own design). Currently this is manual with payments and membership tracked by our treasurer Eric M and our AL coordinator, a.k.a ALcor, Michael G, but soon it should be integrated into the MHAA website as a self-checkout option. You can use the contact us form or find us at a local event/meeting to let us know you are interested in joining the AL and we will get you sorted.

Every quarter the ALcor submits the MHAA's AL membership list to the AL. New AL memberships will start at the next quarter following the AL's first inclusion of you on the list. This has to be submitted ahead of the next quarter, so additions right before a quarter may be forced to wait until the following quarter to start.

MHAA membership and AL membership cadence are not aligned. As long as you signed up and paid for your AL membership while an active MHAA member, your AL membership will be good for one year from the quarter in which the AL first sees you on our list. If your MHAA membership expires before your AL membership, your AL membership will remain valid through the end of its natural year. However, in such a scenario renewing your AL membership at the end of that year (at least at the discounted rate) would require you to also renew your MHAA membership.

AL Member Benefits

Astronomical League membership comes with a particularly unique set of benefits compared to your MHAA benefits. Below are some of the main AL benefits.