We recently celebrated the 600th observing session of the ALFALFA survey. This landmark occurred during Thanksgiving week, so we had a large contingent of observers at Arecibo taking advantage of the break from university classes. Two of the institutions from the ALFALFA Undergraduate Team, Humboldt State University and Colgate University, were represented. The observers, including two faculty advisors and seven undergraduate students, met in the control room for a celebration before observations started. Pictures, courtesy of Tom Balonek, are featured below. You can also find the pictures on the ALFALFA website located here.

600 observing sessions completed and 79% of the survey observations completed – we’re nearing completion of the observations for the survey. There’s still plenty of science to do, though!