Club Meetings
First Wednesday of each month (except near holidays; see the Activity Calendar below)
UWL Cowley Hall Planetarium -
Open Meeting: If you need help with equipment or other astronomical advice we are here to help you if we can. We will allow the public to attend any meeting but please let us know in advance if you can but isn't required. Use the Contact Us option in the tabs area at the top of the page to let us know.
Social time: 7:15PM
Astronomy Presentation or Video: 8:00
Regular meetings: 8:15PM
Check our Groups.io User Group for GO/NO-GO decisions on upcoming observing events. Or just keep up with what's going on with the club. Join in if you like. The LCAAS Groups.io User Group is here: |
CURRENT MOON |
2025 Activity Calendar (updated 04/24/2025)
- Regular LCAAS Club meetings: Normally, club meetings will be held in-person but might be changed to a Zoom Meeting at the discretion of the President.
- Observing nights are held at a site as indicated in the schedule below. These are held on a weekend closest to the new moon and are designated as “Dark Sky” on the calendar. However, we will normally make a last-minute call to GO or NO-GO, based on weather conditions, and post accordingly on the LCAAS Groups.io User Group: https://groups.io/g/LCAAS. Others may post there as well so check to see if anyone is going to be at the field.
- The public is welcome but please see the Observing Etiquette section on the Observing page.
- Friday only is listed for Dark Sky dates; Saturday is the backup if Friday is clouded out; other local events are also listed here if applicable.
Calendar
January 8 – Regular Club meeting
January 31 – Dark Sky – No Public Viewing is Scheduled. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
February 5 - Regular Club meeting
February 28– Dark Sky – No Public Viewing is Scheduled. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
March 5 - Regular Club meeting
March 14 – Total Lunar Eclipse – Early Morning - First Contact: 12:11AM; Totality: 1:28AM to 2:30AM
March 15 - Sheboygan Astronomical Society - 18th Annual Swap N' Sell - Sheboygan Airport, 9am-2pm. This is located at the Aviation Heritage Center, Sheboygan Airport, N6191 Resource Drive, Sheboygan Falls, WI 53085. **A great chance to buy used astronomy equipment.**
March 28 - Dark Sky - RHP site - No Public Viewing is Scheduled due to weather limitations and site conditions. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
April 2- Regular Club meeting
April 25-26 – NCRAL Conference. The main conference will be at the Marriot Southwest, 5801 Opus Parkway, Minnetonka, Minnesota. Participants arriving on Friday can head to Eagle Lake Observatory for a Star-B-Q hosted by the Minnesota Astronomical Society.
April 25 - Dark Sky– RHP site
May 2 – Observing with Sparta STEM School – 7 – 11PM Possibly Day program or Solar
May 3 - Astronomy Day - Riverside Park, La Crosse, WI (near the cannon), Solar observing 11:00am - 2:00pm, night observing 8:00pm - 10:00pm.
May 6 - Club Banquet (members and their significant other) – Hmong's Golden Eggrolls, 901 State Street, Suite 110, La Crosse – 6:00pm social, 6:30pm dinner (this is earlier as they close at 8PM)
May 7 - Regular Club meeting
May 30 - Dark Sky – RHP site
May 30 (backup night is the 31st) - NCRAL Spring Mini-Messier Marathon at the RHP observing Site (Track down and view 27 Messier objects with the Club. Win a pin and certificate!)
June 4 - Regular Club meeting
June 25-28 – AstroCon – (Annual Meeting of the Astronomical League) – Ruby’s Inn, Brice Canyon, UT
June 25 - Dark Sky – G-E-T site
July 2 - Regular Club meeting
July 12 (tentative) - Youth Outdoor Fest - Saturday, 10AM- 2PM - Pettibone Park
July 12 (tentative) - Perrot State Park - Saturday – Sunset 8:57, 45 min Program at 8:15PM - observing after
July 20-July 25 - Nebraska Star Party – 32nd Annual Nebraska Star Party
July 25 - Dark Sky – RHP site (backup night is the 26th)
July 25 - NCRAL Summer Mini-Messier Marathon at the RHP Observing Site (Track down and view 27 Messier objects with the Club. Win a pin and certificate!)
August 6 - Regular Club Meeting
August 9 - Perrot State Park – Saturday - Sunset 8:29 45 min Program at 8:00PM - observing after
August 22 - Dark Sky – G-E-T site
September 3 – Regular Club meeting
September 19 - Dark Sky – RHP site – 6:00pm picnic prior to viewing
September 27 - Perrot State Park – Sunset 7:03 Program at 6:30PM - observing after
September 27 - Astronomy Day – (OCTOBERFEST with 9PM fireworks), Location to be determined, Solar observing 11:00am - 2:00pm, night observing 8:00pm - 10:00pm.
October 1 – Regular Club Meeting
October 24 - Dark Sky – G-E-T site (backup night is the 25th)
October 24 - Autumn Mini-Messier opportunity - NCRAL Fall Mini-Messier Marathon at the G-E-T Observing Site (Track down and view 27 Messier objects with the Club. Win a pin and certificate!)
November 5 – Regular Club meeting
November 21 – Dark Sky – RHP - site conditions permitting. This late date is provisional due to weather limitations and site conditions. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
December 3 – Regular Club Meeting (Party)
December 19 – Dark Sky – RHP – No Public Viewing is Scheduled. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
January 7 – Regular Club Meeting
January 16 – Dark Sky – RHP – No Public Viewing is Scheduled. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
Partial Solar Eclipse
The view of the Sun rising at the end a an annular solar eclipse on June 10th, 2021 at the Ridge History Park. We had a group set up to observe this event. The sun rise started at 05:25. Thanks to Hank for providing this image.
Paul beside his inflatable planetarium
Paul Kinzer can give presentations on the night sky in a portable planetarium.
|
Night Sky Network demo kit
Jack helping out with solar observing at Cub Scout Day Camp in August of 2022.
|
2022 Youth Outdoor Fest - Pettibone Park, La Crosse, WI
|
2022 Astronomy Day in Onalaska
|