"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...

PDFs require free Adobe Reader 

 

 

 

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

PDFs require free Adobe Reader 

Wisconsin Astronomy

 

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page updated 4/29/2012

 

 

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Upcoming Observing Highlights for May 2012   (from skymaps.com)
 
April is Global Astronomy Month http://www.gam-awb.org/
1 Moon near Mars (evening sky) at 7h UT. Mag. +0.0.
4 Moon near Spica (evening sky) at 19h UT.
4 Moon near Saturn (evening sky) at 20h UT. Mag. +0.3.
5 Eta Aquarid meteor shower peaks. Active from April 19 to May 28. Associated with Comet Halley. Very fast, bright meteors, up to 10-20 per hour. Favors skywatchers in the tropics and southern hemisphere observing a few hours before dawn. Unfavorable in 2012 due to bright moonlight.
The Eta Aquarids (Gary Kronk)
Meteor Shower Calendar (April to June) (IMO)
6 Full Moon at 3:35 UT. Largest this year.
Full Moon Names (Wikipedia)
6 Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 4h UT (356,955 km; 33.5'). Nearest in 2012. Occurs very close to Full Moon. Very high tides expected.
7 Moon near Antares (morning sky) at 18h UT.
12 Last Quarter Moon at 21:47 UT.
13 Jupiter at conjunction with the Sun at 13h UT. Passes into the morning sky (not visible).
19 Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 16h UT (distance 406,448 km; angular size 29.4').
20 New Moon at 23:47 UT. Start of lunation 1106.
Lunation Number (Wikipedia)
20 Annular Solar Eclipse from 22:00 to 1:30 UT (5/21). Annular (ring-like) eclipse visible on a narrow path from southern coast of China (sunrise), across parts of Japan (including Tokyo), across the North Pacific, before making landfall near the California-Oregon coast (22° above horizon at 6:24 PDT), then across the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion National Parks to Albuquerque (5° above horizon), before sunset near Lubbock in Western Texas. The partial phase is visible across Asia, the vast Pacific Ocean, and North America.
Annular Solar Eclipse of 2012 May 20 (NASA/Google Map)
Annular Solar Eclipse of 2012 May 20 (NASA/PDF)
Eclipses in 2012 (NASA inc Maps & Tables)
22 Moon near Venus (21° from Sun, evening sky) at 22h UT. Mag. -4.5. A telescope will show Venus as a thin crescent.
26 Moon near Beehive cluster (M44) (evening sky) at 12h UT.
Beehive Star Cluster (M44) (Wikipedia)
27 Mercury at superior conjunction with the Sun at 11h UT. The planet passes into the evening sky.
28 Moon near Regulus (evening sky) at 5h UT.
28 First Quarter Moon at 20:15 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,)