"Pillaging the Universe One Star at a Time"

 

The 2012 Bootleg Astronomy Star Party dates are........

May 18th thru the 20th.

CLICK HERE to download the 2012 Bootleg Star Party Registration Form!

Registration cut-off is May 5th for early registration and T-Shirt pre-orders.  (You can still register on-site for a slightly higher fee)  

Map and Directions here...

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Bootleg 2011 Pictures

Bootleg 2010 Pictures

Bootleg 2008 Pictures

Bootleg 2007 Pictures

2008 Prairie Skies Star Party Pictures 

CAS Astrofest @ Camp Shaw

CAS Astrofest @ Vana's

Texas Star Party 2009

<<< PSSP home page

CAS Web Site 

SWAOG Web Site 

Jeff's Driveway Astronomy Page

Jeff's Binocular Picks

Free Sky Map from Skymaps.com

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Wisconsin Astronomy

 

Visit the . . .     Bootleg Optics Swap Page    items...

 

page updated 1/14/2012

 

 

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Upcoming Observing Highlights for January 2012   (from skymaps.com)
 
1 First Quarter Moon at 6:15 UT.
2 Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 20h UT (distance 404,579 km; angular size 29.5').
3 Moon near Jupiter (evening sky) at 0h UT. Mag. -2.6.
4 Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks at 7h UT. Active between December 28 and January 12. Produces up to 120 meteors per hour. Radiant is in northern Boφtes. Low moonlight makes for very favorable viewing conditions this year.
• The Quadrantids (Gary Kronk)
• The Quadrantids (IMO)
5 Earth at Perihelion (closest to Sun) at 1h UT. The Sun-Earth distance is 0.983284 a.u. or 147.1 million kilometers.
• Sun at Aphelion and Perihelion (Anthony Ayiomamitis)
5 Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 10h UT.
6 Moon near Aldebaran (evening sky) at 6h UT.
9 Full Moon at 7:31 UT.
• Full Moon Names (Wikipedia)
10 Moon near Beehive cluster (morning sky) at 19h UT.
12 Moon near Regulus (morning sky) at 9h UT.
13 Friday-the-13th, supposed to be unlucky. There are three Friday-13ths in 2012, 13 weeks apart from each other. Also, Friday falls on the 13th more often than any other day of the week.
• Friday the 13th (Wikipedia)
14 Moon near Mars at 1h UT (morning sky). Mag. -0.1.
16 Moon near Spica (morning sky) at 5h UT.
16 Last Quarter Moon at 9:08 UT.
16 Moon near Saturn (morning sky) at 17h UT. Mag. +0.6.
17 Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 21h UT (369,886 km; 32.3').
19 Moon near Antares (morning sky) at 12h UT.
23 New Moon at 7:40 UT. Start of lunation 1102.
• Lunation Number (Wikipedia)
26 Moon near Venus (39° from Sun, evening sky) at 14h UT. Mag. -4.1.
30 Moon near Jupiter (evening sky) at 12h UT. Mag. -2.4.
30 Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 18h UT (distance 404,323 km; angular size 29.6').
31 First Quarter Moon at 4:10 UT.
The Zodiacal Light is caused by sunlight reflected off meteoric dust in the plane of the solar system. Choose a clear, moonless night, about 1-2 hours after sunset, and look for a large triangular-shaped glow extending up from the horizon (along the ecliptic). The best months to view the Zodiacal Light is when the ecliptic is almost vertical at the horizon: March and April (evening) and October-November (morning); times reversed for the southern hemisphere.
• Zodiacal Light (Wikipedia)
• Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
• Photographing the Zodiacal Light (Weatherscapes)
>>> All times Universal Time (UT).    USA Central Standard Time = UT-6 hours.  (DST = UT-5 hrs,)