Club Meetings
First Wednesday of each month (except near holidays; see the Activity Calendar below)
Our meetings are held Central High School in La Crosse. We use the classroom adjacent to the La Crosse Central High School Planetarium (https://sites.google.com/lacrossesd.org/exploratorium/home?authuser=0).
Open Meeting: Anyone may attend. If you need help with equipment or other astronomical advice we are here to help you if we can. The public may 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: 7:00PM
Astronomy Presentation or Video: 7:45PM
Regular business meetings: 8:00PM
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 or ask a question. Join in if you like. The LCAAS Groups.io User Group is here:
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2026 Activity Calendar (updated 01/04/2026)
- 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.
2026 Calendar
January 7 – Regular Club meeting
January 16 – Dark Sky – No Public Viewing is Scheduled. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
February 4 - Regular Club meeting
February 20– Dark Sky – No Public Viewing is Scheduled. Monitor the groups.io site for information related to anyone going out.
March 3 - Total Lunar Eclipse - 3:50am to 7:15am (Moon sets at 6:38am, Totality is 5-6am) Location TBD
March 4 - Regular Club meeting
March 20 - 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.
March 28 - Sheboygan Astronomical Society - 19th 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.**
April 1- Regular Club meeting
April 17 - Dark Sky– RHP site
April 17 (backup night is the 18th) - 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!)
April 25 - Astronomy Day - Riverside Park, La Crosse, WI (near the cannon), Solar observing 11:00am - 2:00pm, night observing 8:00pm - 10:00pm.
May 5 - Club Banquet (members and their significant other) – Location TBD – 6:00pm social, 6:30pm dinner
May 6 - Regular Club meeting
May 15-17 – NCRAL Conference. NCRAL 2026 Conference, The Eastern Iowa Cosmic Conference, to be held at the Double Tree by Hilton in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
May 15 - Dark Sky – G-E-T site
June 3 - Regular Club meeting
June 12 - Dark Sky– RHP site
July 1 - Regular Club meeting
July 11 (tentative) - Youth Outdoor Fest - Saturday, 10AM- 2PM - Pettibone Park
July 12-July 17 - Nebraska Star Party – 33rd Annual Nebraska Star Party
July 17 - Dark Sky – G-E-T site
July 17 (backup night is the 18th) - NCRAL Summer 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!)
July 25 - Perrot State Park - Saturday – Sunset 8:57, 45 min Program at 8:15PM - observing after
August 5 - Regular Club Meeting
August 14 - Dark Sky – RHP site
August 22 - Perrot State Park – Saturday - Sunset 8:29 45 min Program at 8:00PM - observing after
September 2 – Regular Club meeting
September 11 - Dark Sky – G-E-T site – 6:00pm picnic prior to viewing
September 19 - Perrot State Park – Sunset 7:03 Program at 6:30PM - observing after
September 19 - Astronomy Day – Location to be determined, Solar observing 11:00am - 2:00pm, night observing 8:00pm - 10:00pm.
October 7 – Regular Club Meeting
October 9 - Dark Sky – RHP
October 9 (backup night is the 10th)- Autumn Mini-Messier opportunity - NCRAL Fall Mini-Messier Marathon at the RHP Observing Site (Track down and view 27 Messier objects with the Club. Win a pin and certificate!)
November 4 – Regular Club meeting
November 13 – 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 2 – Regular Club Meeting (Party)
December 11 – 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.
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Night Sky Network demo kit
Jack helping out with solar observing at Cub Scout Day Camp in August of 2022.
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2022 Youth Outdoor Fest - Pettibone Park, La Crosse, WI
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2022 Astronomy Day in Onalaska
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