> The 4th Annual Bootleg Astronomers Star Party will begin at 10AM on Friday > June 11th thru Noon, Sunday, June 13th, at Green River Conservation Area , > Harmon Illinois. Come and explore the night skies with us under some of > the darkest skies in the State of Illinois. We promise... You will be > "WOWED"! Upon your arrival you will receive an informational packet full > of goodies, provided by us, including your ticket for our fabulous door > prize give-a way. We will provide free coffee, hot chocolate, & tea both > nights. Tent & RV camping. Water and sanitary facilities on site. > Electricity to charge your batteries/packs is available as well. We will > provide several battery chargers for your use. (note, this is a wilderness > area). Motels are available in nearby Princeton off I-80. This is a big > birding area as well as the Land of Lincoln for daytime excursions . > Hunting & fishing as well. Come and Celebrate with us at our Spring Star > Party. Only $25.00 for both nights if you register by Saturday. May 29th. > The price after that date is $40.00. Please visit our website at > http://bootlegastronomy.com for our registration form. We will also have > T-shirts for sale & as usual this years' shirt will be a visual treat for > your eyes designed by Mike Foster! Welcome aboard Matey's ! No one walks > the plank at this "Party". And We do mean "Party" ! "Bootleg Astronomers", > Pillaging the Universe one Star at a time."

The Cherry Springs Star Party or CSSP will be held at Cherry Springs State Park near Coudersport, PA. Cherry Springs State Park is well known for very dark skies and we hope you'll enjoy them with us this year! Our 2009 Star Party was a great success featuring talented speakers and good opportunities for observing. The Registration Desk will open at approximately 12 PM on Thursday and will be open at various times throughout the weekend. We hope to see YOU at the Star Party! We hope to have May's Munchables, absolutely the best food service provider for a Star Party, providing food 24/7 for attendees.

The Michiana Astronomical Society will be hosting their third annual star party (MSP3) at the Potawatomi Wildlife Park in Tippecanoe, Indiana on May 14-16, 2010. Potawatomi Park is recognized as the first established Dark Sky Preserve in Indiana. This year’s speakers are Dr. Carlton Allen, NASA Curator for Extraterrestrial Materials at the Johnson Space Center and Dr. Marvin Bolt, Curator of Astronomy History Collections at the Adler Planetarium and Museum in Chicago. Dr. Allen’s topic will be “Exploring the Moon in 2010” and Dr. Bolt will be presenting “The Art(s) of Observing”. The park has hiking trails, canoeing on the Tippecanoe River and wildlife observations. Michiana Astronomical Society will be providing coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. This year we will be providing hot dogs and more for our guests. There will be a community campfire with a grill away from the observing field, and microwave ovens for all to use. Camp sites for tents, campers, and RVs are available around the observing field. The discounted preregistration deadline is May 7, 2010. MSP3 T-shirts can also be preordered with your registration. Please visit our website for more information: www.Michiana-Astro.org.

The Michiana Astronomical Society will be hosting their third annual star party (MSP3) at the Potawatomi Wildlife Park in Tippecanoe, Indiana on May 14-16, 2010. Potawatomi Park is recognized as the first established Dark Sky Preserve in Indiana. This year’s speakers are Dr. Carlton Allen, NASA Curator for Extraterrestrial Materials at the Johnson Space Center and Dr. Marvin Bolt, Curator of Astronomy History Collections at the Adler Planetarium and Museum in Chicago. Dr. Allen’s topic will be “Exploring the Moon in 2010” and Dr. Bolt will be presenting “The Art(s) of Observing”. The park has hiking trails, canoeing on the Tippecanoe River and wildlife observations. Michiana Astronomical Society will be providing coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. This year we will be providing hot dogs and more for our guests. There will be a community campfire with a grill away from the observing field, and microwave ovens for all to use. Camp sites for tents, campers, and RVs are available around the observing field. The discounted preregistration deadline is May 7, 2010. MSP3 T-shirts can also be preordered with your registration. Please visit our website for more information: www.Michiana-Astro.org.

The 32nd Annual Texas Star Party will be hosted on the magnificent Prude Ranch, a 3500 acre mile-high ranch located six miles northwest of Fort Davis on Highway 118... 12 miles on the same road from McDonald Observatory... Darkest Skies! All over America, the search for dark skies is becoming a subject of great interest and concern for amateur astronomers. In many places when amateurs get together to observe the stars, they compare their skies to those they once saw on a remote Texas ranch ... Little wonder! The skies in the Davis Mountains of West Texas are the darkest found anywhere in North America. Where else, after all, could one find so magnificent a view of Omega Centauri? High in the south and suspended against a sky that is the color of ink, the cluster is so spectacular through your eyepiece, you almost think you can reach out and touch it! Where else does the Sagittarius Milky Way rise over the mountains with so vivid a presence that you might mistake it for an ominous storm cloud? And what more natural setting could welcome amateurs than a frontier so remote and beckoning that Leslie Peltier himself once referred to it as "paradise?" It has to be Texas! The perfect place for the perfect star party ... a huge gathering of more than 500 of the most serious astrophotographers and observers in the United States and beyond ... the culmination of an odyssey that is worthy of all the dedication and stamina it takes to get here and to return - year, after year, after year!

The Olympic Astronomical Society will hold an Astronomy day event at the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale, WA. There will be telescopes, static displays and a planetarium sponsored by Digitalis Corporation. Come find the answers to your astronomy questions by talking with our amateur astronomers. If the weather permits, we will take a look at the night sky with telescopes

Join the staff of the Dreyfuss Planetarium at Riker Hill Park (284 Beaufort Ave.) in Livingston, NJ. Telescopes will be set up for the public to see the Moon, Mars and the wonders of the spring sky. No reservations required; telescopes are provided for viewing. This event is co-sponsored by the Essex County Department of Parks. (Rain date: Saturday, March 20) FREE; All ages.

New Nov date for the VSSP. October new moon was too overcast. See Von Braun Astronomical Society for directions. Near Hohenwald, TN.

The VSSP is a casual star gazing weekend in remote, dark sky site of Central Tennessee. Free to astornomers with scopes, this will be the 6th year for this VBAS.org event. Under Clear Dark Skies sites look under Tennessee - Meriwether Lewis Observatory (MLO)

The Enchanted Skies Star Party, held in Socorro, New Mexico, offers a unique Southwestern Astronomy experience. With many exciting features, the Enchanted Skies Star Party includes a unique opportunity for a night of observing at an elevation of 10,600 feet. We continue our decade-long tradition of presenting outstanding lectures by leading professional and amateur astronomers, and we'll gather on Saturday night for an evening of great food, Southwestern entertainment and excellent, dark-sky observing. Socorro's dry, high-desert climate, dark skies, and friendly small-town environment provide an excellent dark sky observing experience.