Update: 7am. The Star Party is on for tonight. For people that RSVPed, we'll see you there. For everyone else RSVPs are now closed to additional people, as the license plate list has been sent to the Park.

February means Orion is high in the sky, and while Jupiter is fading into the West, Mars will be in it's ideal viewing position this year (if we get a still atmosphere) as it starts it's retrograde path. The open clusters of Canis Major and Monoceres will also be great targets.

This event is at Lake Taghkanic State Park and as such and RSVP is required on our meetup site so the State Police don't ticket you for being in the park when it's closed.

Sunset                     5:30 p.m.
End civil twilight         5:59 p.m.
Moonrise                   4:28 a.m. on following day

Lake Taghkanic State Park is in the town Ancram, NY, just 10 minutes north of Wilcox Park in Milan. Star Parties at Lake Taghanic are held in the West Parking log, next to the beach. The skies are darker than in Wilcox, with less stray light to deal with. The horizon is also much lower, especially to the south and east, making many more targets possible.

IMPORTANT: all events at Lake Taghkanic State Park require an RSVP which includes license plate number of the car you are bringing (please do so via Meetup). The park is patrolled by state police, and all non registered cars will be ticketed and risk our use of the park.