Welcome to the Lake County (Illinois) Astronomical Society!

JOIN US FOR ASTRONOMY DAY!!! Saturday May 10th. Daytime family events and nightime viewing using member telescopes. It's free and for all ages. For details and schedule.

LCAS information Free LCAS Public Programs and Events Membership Benefits and How to Join Club Contacts Where to find our meetings Public Star Parties Astronomy Day 2008 Lake Sky Star Awards The LCAS 20" telescope The Lake Sky Observatory Leon Fasano LCAS Lifetime Award Astrophotography Archeoastronomy Astronomy Cartoons Take the Observer's Challenge Beginner's Corner Getting a Start in Astronomy Buying Your First Telescope The Care and Feeding of a Telescope LCAS Mentoring Program Useful references Dictionary of Astronomical Terms Astronomy Links & Newsgroups For Educators See our educational offerings NASA's Teacher's Corner Use Google to search the LCAS Web site WWW LCAS

LCAS - WHO ARE WE? We are people of all ages who are interested in the science of astronomy. While many are accomplished observers and astrophotographers, others are new to the hobby. The LCAS tries to respond to all levels of interest. Various members own large telescopes, some of which they've built themselves from scratch. On the other hand, some members don't own any telescope at all, but simply enjoy observing the night sky with their unaided eyes. The LCAS meets on the third Friday of each month. The meetings are free and are open to the public. Join our next meeting! The next public LCAS meeting will be on Friday, May 16, 2008 at 7:30pm in the Volo Bog visitor center. The meeting format will be: 7:30 - 8:15 business meeting 8:30 - 9:30 public astronomy program 9:30 - ???? public star party if weather permits At our free astronomy program for our May meeting our guest speaker will be John Vittallo, JPL Solar System Ambassador and member of the Chicago Society for Space. John is excited to share images and scientific findings from Cassini-Huygens mission. After a 7-year trip to the ringed planet 930 million miles from the Sun, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft successfully entered orbit to begin its mission of exploration and discovery. Over the four years of the primary mission, Cassini-Huygens will investigate the mysteries of the planet, its incredible system of rings, and its complement of moons. This presentation will focus on the objectives of the mission, information about spacecraft instrumentation, and most importantly the exciting images and results of the mission to date. The incredible success of the Huygens Probe and its descent to the surface of the giant moon Titan will also be discussed. Following the meeting, we'll be setting up scopes outside under the stars (weather permitting) and sharing views of the night sky with the public. (For additional information, see Star Parties). LCAS Library of over 400 Astronomy Articles for beginners and experts alike. If you're an LCAS member,you can read the NightTimes on the member's Yahoo User Group. Monthly Quote: "The history of astronomy is a history of receding horizons." - Edwin Hubble.

Artist's conception of region near supermassive black hole where twisted magnetic fields propel and shape jet of particles Credit: Marscher et al., Wolfgang Steffen, Cosmovision, NRAO/AUI/NSF News Astrophoto of the Day NASA ISS and Shuttle Sightings *** Recent Astronomy News *** Storm Rages on Saturn Hubble telescope captures colliding galaxies Herschel satellite assembly complete First success using tomography to map the Sun's corona Radio Telescope Reveals Secrets of Massive Black Hole Star formation in M83 NASA Statement on Student Asteroid Calculations Cassini's mission extended by two years 10 new exoplanets found Omega Centauri may be a Dwarf Galaxy Endeavour makes rare night landing Results from Diving Over Enceladus Weather sites for northern Illinois