AUTCL - Deerfield
2025-10-29 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Deerfield Public Library, 920 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, IL, United States
**10/28/25 UPDATE Due to forecasted cloudy skies the Deerfield Astronomy Under the City Lights event will be moved to Wednesday, October 29th**
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of October 29th.

LCAS Monthly Meeting - Space: The Year in Review
2025-11-21 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
Larry Boyle, with the Chicago Society for Space Studies Speakers Bureau will give a presentation titled, ‘Space: The Year in Review’. Mr Boyle who has presented to LCAS many times in the past has made this talk pretty much a yearly event. This is sure to be a very educational and informative talk.
The presentation will start at 7:00 PM (open to the Public Business meeting starts about 8:30 PM.). Afterwards LCAS members will show guests the night sky through powerful telescopes (weather permitting). Please join us.

Antimatter vs Fusion Deceleration Concepts for Exoplanet Exploration
2026-02-20 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The February 20th meeting of the LCAS will feature a presentation by Dr. Gerald Jackson. Dr. Jackson retired from Fermilab is now President of Hbar Technologies a firm developing markets for antimatter with capabilities in scientific research and engineering development. His talk will be about the possibilities of using antimatter in interstellar travel.

This meeting will be at Volo Bog State Natural Area and held via Zoom.

LCAS Monthly Meeting: A History of Lunar Cartography and Nomenclature
2026-03-20 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The LCAS March Meeting will feature Speaker Jim Plaxco director of the National Space Society and President of the Chicago Society for Space Studies.
Description of Presentation: Mapping of the Moon and the associated representations of the lunar surface have been heavily influenced by observational technology developments. The technological advances that increased astronomer’s ability to resolve surface features also influenced the development of a lunar cartographic system and an associated nomenclature. This presentation focuses on the most significant lunar cartographic and nomenclature developments during the period of 1300 thru 1900.

AUTCL - Zion-Benton
2026-03-24 20:00 - 21:00 | Zion Benton, 2400 Gabriel Ave, Zion, IL, 60099
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of March 26.

A Game of Mysteries: Astronomy and the Unveiling of Nature's Secret Workings
2026-04-17 19:00 - 21:30 | IL
A Game of Mysteries: Astronomy and the Unveiling of Nature’s Secret Workings
Shane L. Larson
Clarkson University

No human has ever travelled farther from Earth than the Moon. No robotic probe has ever travelled farther than the edge of our solar system. Yet huddled around a telescope at night, we regularly regale our friends and guests with tales of galaxies that are millions of light years away, and how a mini-solar system of planets whirls around nearby Alpha Centauri, and how stars are birthing themselves out of the maelstrom of the Orion Nebula.

We live in a Cosmos grand and vast with underlying rules governing its behavior, called “The Laws of Nature.” From our vantage point here on Earth, humans have spent centuries uncovering those rules — discovering what they are, what they mean, and how they work. In this talk, we’ll use astronomy to understand how we glean knowledge from the Cosmos, explore how our understanding of the Laws of Nature has changed over time, and contemplate some of the great mysteries still confronting us.

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short bio
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Shane Larson is a professor of Physics at Clarkson University and the Director of Integrated Engineering and Applied Science Projects. He works in the field of gravitational wave astrophysics, specializing in studies of compact stars, binaries, and the galaxy with both the ground-based LIGO project, and the forthcoming space-based observatory LISA. He is an award winning teacher, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is an avid amateur astronomer, observing with two homebuilt Dobsonians, a 12.5″ named EQUINOX and a 22″ named COSMOS MARINER. He contributes regularly to a public science blog at writescience.wordpress.com, and posts at Bluesky with the handle @sciencejedi .
Dr. Larson’s Presentation will be livestreamed on Lake County Astronomical Society YouTube channel starting at 7pm. If you are not already subscribed you can find the channel at this link: youtube.com/@lakecountyastronomicalsociety

AUTCL - Highwood
2026-04-23 20:00 - 21:00 | Highwood Library, 102 Highwood Ave, Highwood, IL, 60040
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of April 27.

Astronomy Day 2026
2026-04-25 11:00 - 16:00 | IL
The Lake County Astronomical Society will be hosting Astronomy Day at Ela Area Public Library on April 25th, 2026 from 11am to 4pm.
The event is free to attend and open to the public.
There will be exhibits, raffle prizes, astronomical related activities for all ages, and weather permitting solar observing outside.
Ela Area Public Library is located at 275 Mohawk Trail Lake Zurich, IL 60047

Our Moon: Known and Unknown
2026-05-15 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The Speaker for the May monthly meeting of the Lake County Astronomical Society will be Michelle Nichols, Outreach Coordinator with the Adler Planetarium. The topic will be:

Our Moon: Known and Unknown

Our Moon is one of the most familiar objects in our sky, but there is still a lot we don’t know about it. Spacecraft landings there seek ice, metals, rocks, and minerals that – we hope! – can tell us much more about the history of our satellite. This talk will include an overview of what we know and what we still need to learn about our closest neighbor in space. This is sure to be an interesting, educational and informative event. Please join us.
After the Presentation LCAS Members with their powerful telescopes will show the Night Sky to Attendees (weather permitting).
This meeting will also be streamed to members via Zoom. In order to join the meeting over Zoom, members must be logged in to the LCAS Website.

AUTCL - Aspen Drive - Vernon Hills (rescheduled for May 27th)
2026-05-21 20:00 - 21:00 | Aspen Drive – Vernon Hills Library, 701 Aspen Dr., Vernon Hills, Il, 60061
This event is being rescheduled to May 27th due to cloud cover.
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of May 27.

AUTCL - Aspen Drive Backup Date - Vernon Hills
2026-05-27 20:00 - 21:00 | Aspen Drive – Vernon Hills Library, 701 Aspen Dr., Vernon Hills, Il, 60061
This event was originally scheduled for May 21st, but had to be rescheduled due to cloud cover.
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.

Why Doesn’t Our Sun Just Explode? Or, Why has It Lasted So Long?
2026-06-19 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The Speaker at June’s Monthly LCAS meeting will be Mark Christensen, PHD. The space race inspired him to earn degrees in both mathematics and physics while an undergraduate at Wayne State University. He earned is Masters in Physics at Purdue and his PhD in probability at Wayne State University He joined Northrop Corporation’s Defense System Division in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. He retired from Northrop Grumman’s Rolling Meadows plant in 1999 as Vice President of Engineering. Throughout his professional career Mark remained active as an amateur astronomer
We all have heard that our Sun produces energy by the fusion of hydrogen and other nuclei. And we have known for nearly two centuries that how much energy it produces every second, and we know from our experiments, theories, and tests that fusion reactions can produce large amounts of energy. And we know this has been going on for billions of years. But when we examine the facts carefully we realize that the sun really doesn’t produce that much energy considering its considerable mass. In this talk we’ll explore why this is so and will look into the details of the fusion reactions going on in our star, including on-going research in this area – we still don’t know the whole story.
Meeting Link for LCAS Members

AUTCL - Fremont
2026-06-22 20:00 - 21:00 | Fremont Library, 1170 N. Midlothian Rd., Mundelein, IL, 60060
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of June 24.

Executive Committee Meeting (EC Members Only)
2026-07-09 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom Meeting
Meeting materials will be included in the EC post for this meeting.
Here is the Zoom Link for the meeting.
Let me know if there are any questions

LCAS Monthly Meeting: Wonders of Web: Exploring the Universe with JWST
2026-07-17 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The Speaker for the July meeting of the Lake County Astronomical society will be Jim Kovac. Jim will present on the amazing imagery that the James Webb Telescope has taken and the science it has produced.

AUTCL - Grayslake
2026-07-21 20:00 - 21:00 | Grayslake Area Public Library, 100 Library Ln,, Grayslake, IL, 60030, United States
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of July 23.

AUTCL - Wauconda
2026-08-18 19:30 - 20:30 | Wauconda Library, 801 N. Main St., Wauconda, IL, 60084
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of August 20.

AUTCL - Lake Villa
2026-09-17 20:00 - 21:00 | Lake Villa, 140 N. Munn Rd, Lindenhurst, IL, 60046
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of September 22.

Celebrating a Century of Rocketry: Robert Goddard’s Life, Work, and Legacy
2026-09-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The September 18th meeting of the Lake County Astronomical Society will feature a special presentation by long‑time LCAS Life Member Tom Mathieson. This year marks an extraordinary milestone in the history of spaceflight: the 100th anniversary of the world’s first successful launch of a liquid‑fueled rocket, achieved by Dr. Robert H. Goddard in 1926. Tom will guide us through Goddard’s remarkable life—from his early experiments and visionary ideas to the groundbreaking innovations that laid the foundation for modern rocketry. The presentation will explore Goddard’s technical achievements, the challenges he faced, and the enduring legacy that continues to shape space exploration a century later.
We invite all members and guests to join us for the program as we honor one of the true pioneers of astronautics and reflect on how his work continues to inspire today’s scientific and engineering endeavors.

Presentation by Dr. Wayne Osborn of the Yerkes Observatory
2026-10-16 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
The monthly meeting of the Lake County Astronomical will be a presentation By Dr. Wayne Osborn. He will talking about the Glass Plate Collection which has been taken using the Great 40″ Refracture at the Yerkes Observatory. These plates go back to the late 1800’s and have been preserved to this day. Dr. Osborn has many years working with and cataloging these images. This event is free and open to the Public. Please join us.

Afterwards Members of LCAS will show the Night Sky to attendees through their powerful telescopes (weather permitting)

AUTCL - Warren Newport
2026-10-19 19:30 - 20:30 | Warren-Newport Public Library, 224 O'Plaine Rd, Gurnee, IL, 60031, United States
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of October 21.

AUTCL - Indian Trails
2026-11-17 19:30 - 20:30 | Indian Trails Public Library, 355 N. Schoenbeck Rd, Wheeling, IL, 60090, United States
Astronomy Under the City Lights is a free to all-ages event presented by the Lake County Astronomical Society in cooperation with local libraries. LCAS volunteers will bring sophisticated telescopes to allow the public to view the Moon and other objects in the sky.
Visitors are welcome to view at any time during the scheduled hours, and stay as long as they want. No registration is required. Groups are welcome.
In the event of bad weather we have a back up date of November 19.

Space: The Year in Review
2026-11-20 19:00 - 21:30 | IL
The Speaker for the November 20th meeting of LCAS will be Larry Boyle. Mr. Boyle has been pretty much of a yearly feature. His Presentation “Space: The Year in Review” is sure to be an interesting and educational talk. Please join us.

Weather permitting LCAS Members will setup telescopes at the Volo Bog and show attendees the night sky.

Asteroid Mining
2027-05-15 19:00 - 21:30 | Volo Bog, 28478 W.Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL, United States
Larry Bartoszek from the Chicago Society for Space Studies has written a book on Asteroid Mining and will give his presentation to LCAS. Details to follow.
