"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 2/2/2012

 

 

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Upcoming Observing Highlights for February 2012   (from skymaps.com)
 
1 Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 21h UT.
Pleiades (star cluster) (Wikipedia)
2 Moon near Aldebaran (evening sky) at 17h UT.
7 Moon near Beehive cluster (evening sky) at 1h UT.
7 Mercury at superior conjunction with the Sun at 9h UT. The planet passes into the evening sky.
7 Full Moon at 21:55 UT.
Full Moon Names (Wikipedia)
8 Alpha Centaurids meteor shower peaks. About 6 meteors/hour but can peak at up to 25/hour. Produces bright, fast meteors. Active Jan 28 to Feb 21. A sometimes major southern shower. Poor viewing conditions this year due to excessive moonlight.
The Alpha & Beta Centaurids (Gary Kronk)
8 Moon near Regulus (morning sky) at 19h UT.
10 Venus 0.3° NNW of Uranus (41° from Sun, evening sky) at 1h UT. Mags. -4.1 and +5.9.
11 Moon at perigee (closest to Earth) at 19h UT (367,922 km; 32.5').
12 Moon near Spica (morning sky) at 12h UT.
12 Moon near Saturn (morning sky) at 22h UT. Mag. +0.5.
14 Last Quarter Moon at 17:05 UT.
15 Moon near Antares (morning sky) at 19h UT.
21 New Moon at 22:36 UT. Start of lunation 1103.
Lunation Number (Wikipedia)
25 Moon near Venus (44° from Sun, evening sky) at 21h UT. Mag. -4.2.
27 Moon near Jupiter (evening sky) at 3h UT. Mag. -2.2.
27 Moon at apogee (farthest from Earth) at 14h UT (distance 404,863 km; angular size 29.5').
29 Moon near the Pleiades (evening sky) at 2h UT.
Pleiades (star cluster) (Wikipedia)
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,)