The Northwoods Explorers
of Space and Astronomy
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Upcoming Events
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All events are free to the General Public
(Unless stated otherwise)
Educational Fun for all Ages
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Intro to Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets
Tuesday, May 13, 5 - 6:30 PM
Nicolet College, Northwoods Center 208
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Explore the fascinating world of space rocks in this introductory course. Discover the science behind asteroids, meteors, and comets - their origins, characteristics, and the roles they play in the solar system. Learn how these celestial bodies impact Earth, both historically and in the present day, and uncover the latest discoveries in space exploration. Gain a deeper understanding of the forces that shape our universe. Whether you're a budding astronomer of simply curious about the cosmos, this course is a stellar way to begin your journey into the wonders of space.
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Register Online at Nicolet College
Intro to Asteroids, Meteors, and Comets | Nicolet College
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An Amazing Star, our Sun
Saturday, July 19, 12;30 to 2:30 PM, Nicolet College, Rhinelander, WI
Fieldside Center, RM 102 - by the large field
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This program will provide a basic background on how stars develop, live an incredibly long time, then later give most of it back into the Universe! It is a huge fusion reactor, many mysteries remain. We will compare our nearest star to others in the Milky Way galaxy and beyond. If the weather is clear, we will go outside and safely observe the Sun's chromosphere -- the portion of the atmosphere where prominences can be easily seen -- through a specialized telescope that is built just for this purpose.​
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Register Online at Nicolet College
An Amazing Star, The Sun | Nicolet College
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Aurora Watch
Signup to receive email alerts!
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When there's a good probability of aurora we'll let you know.
Our Sun looks like it's on the way to Maximum. This might increase the probabilities of seeing Aurora over the next year.
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Northwoods Explorers' Membership Program
The Northwoods Explorers membership program offers the opportunity to learn more about our Universe and how to find your way among the nearby stars along with supporting our public outreach programs.
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Past Events:
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5:00 - 7:00 PM, February 5, 2025
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Nicolet College, Fieldside Center RM 102, Rhinelander
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This program will provide a brief overview of our Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe. We'll cover the scale and times to travel to different locations. You'll learn what you'll see in the sky throughout the year, and discover when it's best to view planets, meteor showers, aurora, eclipses, the Milky Way, and distant galaxies. We'll demonstrate the tools used and stargazing aids, along with how to select binoculars or a small telescope and learn about the new "smart" telescopes.
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​​​​​​"Colonizing the Moon: A first step to Mars"
and Stargazing at the
North Lakeland Discovery Center
Friday evening 6:30-9 PM Nov 1
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The audience enjoyed Bob's talk, below are some of the videos in his presentation. The sky was clear although there was much dew, we viewed Saturn, M13 the globular cluster in Hercules, M57 the rign nebula in Lyra, and then in image-stabilized binoculars we viewed the Pleiades open cluster and M31 the Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light years distant. Then the dew froze and had to quickly pack up!
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1st link: DARPA Lunar Railway Contract Awarded to Northrop Grumman - 1 min 55 sec
Inside SpaceX's Mission to Send Humans into Deep Space | Foreign Correspondent
2nd link: Artemis: How We Are Going to the Moon - 5 min 31 sec
How We Are Going to the Moon - 4K
3rd link: How SpaceX plans to Build The First Moon Base - 12 min 09 sec
How SpaceX Will Build The First Moon Base
4th link: FULL REPLAY: SpaceX Launches Starship Flight 5 (and Catches A Booster) - 5 hours 18 min 42 sec - (Launch and landing starts at 3 hrs, 25 min to 3 hrs, 32 min 30 sec)
🔴FULL REPLAY: SpaceX Launches Starship Flight 5 (and Catches A Booster)
5th link: LunaNet: Enhancing Connectivity and Empowering Missions at the Moon - 2 min 56 sec
LunaNet: Enhancing Connectivity and Empowering Missions at the Moon
6th link: NASA | Water on the Moon - LRO - 1 min 54 sec
7th link: LUNARSABER: Powering a Human Presence on the Moon - 5 min 56 sec
LUNARSABER: Powering a Human Presence on the Moon
8th link: United Space Structures - building infrastructure on the Moon - Lava tubes - 1 min 16 sec
This is United Space Structures
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Eagle River and Northland Pines School Community Astronomy Night
Oldenburg Sports Park, Eagle River
Friday, Oct 25 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
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The forecast was for bad seeing but it turned out great! Many folks enjoyed the view, Saturn, M13 the globular cluster in Hercules, M31 the Andromeda galaxy, M57 the ring nebula, and the comet all looked great! The teachers from Northland Pines setup a 10" easy-to-use telescope for the public to use and held other activities including a walkout of the scale of our Solar System. Thank you everyone for making this event another success!
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Comet C/2023 A3 Observing, Campanile and Min-Aqua Bat Ski Show City Parking lot, Downtown Minocqua, Thursday, Oct 17, 6:30-8 PM and Nicolet College, Rhinelander, East field, enter off of Day Care Rd aka Nicolet Way
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It was difficult to spot at first, as it became darker, we all saw it through binoculars and a telescope, along with the Supermoon, Saturn, M13, and M57.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers at Nicolet College
Friday, Oct 4, 2024
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The weather cooperated and the sky had good seeing, we setup 4 telescopes and viewed Saturn and its rings, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13), the Ring Nebula in Lyra (M57), the Dumbbell Nebula near Cygnus (M27), the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the starburst galaxy (M82). Some say there were over 150 folks who visited, it's a great place to stargaze, thanks to Nicolet College, who also provided light refreshments. The ages of the curious guests were from 5 to 99! It was a great night!
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Space and Astro Camp with Rhinelander Homeschoolers. Sep 24
We all had a good time learning about rockets, the electromagnetic spectrum, and Solar Viewing
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Partial Lunar Eclipse Viewing, Sep 17, 7:30 - 10:00 PM
Torpy Park, Minocqua
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We had fun during the partial lunar eclipse at Torpy Park last week, clear skies, Saturn, Moon craters, and M13 - the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules were clearly seen along with the moon clipping earth's shadow.
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August 12 Perseid Meteor Shower and Stargazing
Minocqua Winter Park
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After watching a talk on meteor showers, we viewed many distant objects through telescopes and saw a few meteors. Everyone had a good time, with special thanks to the staff and volunteers at the MWP.
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July 16 Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers Astronomy Night
Land o Lakes at Lowenwood, WI
We had to peek in-between clouds to get a good view of M13 the great globular cluster in Hercules and M57 the ring nebula in lyra, and craters on the moon.
Amazing science teachers!
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June 26 YMCA Astronomy Camp
Rhinelander YMCA
The campers had a great time learning about moon phases, rocket theory using balloons, the electromagnetic spectrum building bracelets that turn into various colors when exposed to UV, the scale of the solar system, and viewed prominences and sunspots on the sun through a Hydrogen-alpha filtered telescope.
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June 20 Summer Solstice Solar Exploration
Minocqua - Torpy Park
2 - 4 PM
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Celebrate the beginning of summer with the June 20 solstice at Torpy Park!
Safely observe the sun through a dedicated solar filtered telescope to view sunspots, prominences, and maybe a few flares. Learn about our nearest star and when to look for the Northern Lights. Make a bracelet that detects UV rays. Learn the scale of our solar system. Inspect a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite.
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Free, open to the public, Family fun!
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We will use a Hydrogen-alpha filtered telescope to safely
view the sun's chromosphere up close. Click here to learn more
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Beginning Stargazing Simplified
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5:00 - 7:00 PM, May 8, 2024
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Nicolet College, Rhinelander
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This program will provide a brief overview of our Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe. We'll cover the scale and times to travel to different locations. You'll learn what you'll see in the sky throughout the year, and discover when it's best to view planets, meteor showers, aurora, eclipses, the Milky Way, and distant galaxies. We'll demonstrate the tools used and stargazing aids,
along with how to select binoculars or a small telescope.
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Stay tuned for additional programs at Nicolet College
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Total Solar Eclipse!
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April 8, 2024
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Success! Most everyone who traveled to the path of totality witnessed the eclipse, although some high clouds diminished the view. Total Eclipses are so short in duration it is difficult to capture what we experience visually, due to the wider dynamic range of our eyes. Visually, the corona was much wider than these images show, and the prominences were more prominent! These images were captured by David Gore courtesy of Bob Krueger while in Evansville, IN.
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From Bill B in Indiana:
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This image is from a Hydrogen-alpha filtered telescope, the large prominence is about 3 earth diameters in size.
(Credit Dan Niles)
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Future eclipses visible in Minocqua area:
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/minocqua
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The Great Total Eclipse in America
Minocqua Public Library Presentation
Saturday, March 23, 2024 10-11 AM
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Get prepared for the total eclipse on April 8, 2024, we will provide an indoor presentation on how to safely view it, where the best locations might be, to help plan how to experience an amazing opportunity that has been shared by humans for thousands of years. Don't miss it, the next rare alignment of the Earth, moon and sun as seen from America will be in 2044, 20 years from now! We will demonstrate how to make a pinhole viewer, and participants will receive a free pair of safe solar viewing glasses while supplies last.
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The Great Total Eclipse in America
Mercer Public Library Presentation
March 19, 2024 10-11 AM
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Get prepared for the total eclipse on April 8, 2024, we will provide an indoor presentation on how to safely view it, where the best locations might be, to help plan how to experience an amazing opportunity that has been shared by humans for thousands of years. Don't miss it, the next rare alignment of the Earth, moon and sun as seen from America will be in 2044, 20 years from now! We will demonstrate how to make a pinhole viewer, and participants will receive a free pair of safe solar viewing glasses while supplies last.
Free event. For more information visit
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Another Great American Eclipse: What you need to know – Mercer Public Library
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The Amazing James Webb Space Telescope
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Minocqua Public Library
Jan 27 2024, 10:00 - 11:30 AM
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The James Webb Space Telescope is the next great space science observatory, designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy. It is a once-in-a-generation mission. Learn about how it was made, how it compares to other great observatories, what astronomers hope to accomplish,
and we'll reveal some of the surprising observations.
After the presentation we'll demonstrate how to use the Minocqua Public Library's telescope that can be checked out like a book.
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We had a great turnout, standing room only! Thank you to the staff at the Minocqua Public Library!
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North Lakeland School - Lighted Schoolhouse
November 10, 6 - 8 PM
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Beginning Stargazing Simplified
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This program will provide a brief overview of our Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe. You'll learn what you'll see in the sky throughout the year, and discover when it's best to view planets, meteor showers, aurora, eclipses, the Milky Way, and distant galaxies. We'll demonstrate the tools used and stargazing aids, along with how to select binoculars and a small telescope.
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Northland Pines School Community Astronomy Night
Oldenburg Sports Park, Eagle River
Oct 21
6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
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At first the skies were filled with clouds, so we setup a TV and Bob gave a presentation on Jupiter, then 20 minutes later the clouds parted and we had great views of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, M13, and M82. One of the teachers set up a walkout of the solar system scale. We had a great time until the temps hit 32 with frost on all the metal parts.
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Solar Stargazing
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Mercer Public Library, Saturday 10 am - Noon,
*** Moved to Oct 7 ***
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We set up a Hydrogen-alpha Solar Telescope to view the sun's chromosphere, in between clouds we viewed sunspots, prominences larger than planet Earth, flares, filaments and more! We discussed the upcoming annular eclipse on Oct 14, and the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.
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We use specially-filtered systems that are built to safely view the sun.
Never look at the sun with your eyes or with binoculars or a telescope. It can permanently damage your eyesight.
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Discovery Center Astronomy Night
Friday Sep 22
It was too cloudy for stargazing, Bob Krueger gave a talk on Saturn, the audience asked great questions!
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August 26, Saturday, Astronomy Night at the YMCA of the Northwoods
( Rhinelander ) 8 PM to 10 PM.
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Saturn was at opposition! We viewed Saturn and its rings, the ring nebula, the great globular cluster in Hercules and the moon, although clouds and humidity softened the view.
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August 18 YMCA Day Camp
(YMCA campers only)
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Dozens of campers enjoyed shooting rocket ballons off of our planet, discoverd moon phases, and learned a little about the scale of our solar system. Most saw a few prominences and sunpots on the sun through a solar telescope.
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Perseid Meteor Shower Stargazing
AUG 12, 8 PM - 11 PM Gates open 7 PM
Minocqua Winter Park
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The clouds separated for a few hours and we were able to witness a few meteors, as well as gaze far into our galaxy and universe to view M57 the Ring Nebula, M13 the great cluster in Hercules, M82 a galaxy millions of light years distant.
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Yawkee Lake Association
July 22, 5 PM
Sky Tonight, Light Pollution
(Private)
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Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers
Lowenwood, Three Lakes, July 16
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We fought the mosquitos and as the temps dropped
we were able to view M13, M57, M82, and a few double stars,
with amazing science teachers!
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July 13, 11 AM, Mercer Public Library
Sun, Moon, Stars
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Learn how rockets work using rocket balloons, Hold a moon in your hand and learn about moon phases. Make a bracelet that detects UV rays. Inspect a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite.
Fun for families!
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June 21 Summer Solstice Solar Exploration
Minocqua - Torpy Park
11 AM - 4 PM
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Celebrate the beginning of summer with the
June 21 solstice at Torpy Park!
Safely observe the sun through a dedicated solar filtered telescope to view sunspots, prominences, and maybe a few flares. Learn about our nearest star and when to look for the Northern Lights. Make a bracelet that detects UV rays. Learn how to make a safe solar eclipse viewer, and easily measure the diameter of our nearest star. Inspect a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite. Hear about the race to the moon! Family fun!
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We will use a Hydrogen-alpha filtered telescope to safely
view the sun's chromosphere up close. Click here to learn more
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June 15, 1-2 PM, Minocqua Library
Sun, Moon, Stars
We all had a good time, there were about 60 participants, where they learned a little about how rockets work using rocket balloons, made UV bracelets to detect harmful solar radiation, the scale of the solar system, and moon phases.
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Mercer Public Library
Earth Day Fair
April 22 - 10 AM- 12 PM
We handed out lighting recommendations from the International Dark Sky Association
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Beginner's Guide to Stargazing
3 Class series - Fe University - Hurley, WI
March 21, 28, April 4, 2-3:30 PM
Field stargazing trip April 11 7:30-9:30 PM
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We had a full class and enjoyed a great evening stargazing seeing Venus, the Pleiades, the Orion Nebula and the trapezium, M3 the globular cluster 28,000 light years distant, the planetary nebula NGC 3242, M82 the starburst galaxy 12 million light years away, and a faint M51 - the whirlpool galaxy 31 million light years away.
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Beginner’s Guide to Stargazing – Fe University
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Scale of the Solar System and the Milky Way
Arbor Vitae Woodruff School
March 8
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The classes enjoyed the program and I was amazed about their many great questions!
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Northwoods Explorers January Meeting
Saturday, January 21, 1-2:30 PM
Minocqua Public Library
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"Explorer 1"
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Open to the general public. We will have the latest news then we will watch the NASA/JPL Movie "Explorer 1" (53 min). 65 years ago the Space Race started. We'll discover how we blew up many rockets trying to catch up to the Russians, who had just launched Sputnik 1. From this confusion NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were created, and the space race was on! Discussion will follow.
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Northwoods Explorers Fall Public Meeting
Saturday November 19, 6:30 - 8:00 PM
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Dr. Sebastian Zamfir, Quasars!
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Free event, all are welcome! First, we'll hand out a few awards,
announce our future programs, and a quick update on what's up in the Night Sky,
then Dr. Sebastian Zamfir from the Astronomy and Physics Dept of UWSP
will speak about quasars, active galactic nuclei, and how these discoveries
fit in with how our Milky Way Galaxy developed.
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Refreshments Included
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Exploring Quasars through Optical Spectroscopy
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North Lakeland School
Manitowish Waters
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Friday, November 11th, 6:30pm-8:00pm
Do you find yourself gazing towards the stars on our beautiful Northwoods nights? This class will cover what's up in the sky each season of the year,
what to look for in binoculars, when to look for meteor showers,
and find out where we are in our Milky Way Galaxy.
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If the weather permits, we'll observe Jupiter-and four of its moons, Saturn and its rings, a few double stars, and other deep sky objects through high
powered telescopes for community members to see out of this world sights!
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This is a 3 part series covering the observation of the Solar System,
objects in our Milky Way Galaxy, and beyond.
This unique class is sure to fill
up quick with specific viewing nights to follow after this class.
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Register Now at
North Lakeland School District - Community Education / Lighted Schoolhouse
*Registrants can bring their own binoculars to this class for enhanced viewing*
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Mercer Public School Stargazing Oct 26
The students were rewarded with one of the best viewing nights
we've had up here, We could easily see Saturn's shadow
on the rings as well as many storm bands on Jupiter!
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Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the Minocqua Winter Park, Friday, October 28th
6:30 - 9 PM
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We had great weather, Bob gave a talk on Jupiter, then we viewed Saturn, Jupiter, M13, M57, M31, the Plieades and a few clusters. Folks were amazed with the image-stabilized binoculars
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Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the North Lakeland Discovery Center
October 22, 6:30 - 9:00 PM
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It was a great evening, Bob began with a talk on the Moon, then we went outside and viewed Jupiter, Saturn, the globular cluster M13, the Ring Nebula M57, the Andromeda Galaxy M31, and the Milky Way with image-stabilized binoculars. Everyone had a great time!
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The Space Race with the Northwoods Explorers
Minocqua Public Library
Thursday, October 6
Everyone seemed to enjoy Bob's presentation and discussion around the current space race. Why the rush, isn't it dangerous, and what is the benefit? We'll reveal the amazing opportunities building bridges to the future, and the challenge of finding scientists and engineers.
It was too cloudy to view Saturn, Jupiter and the moon
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Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the YMCA of the Northwoods
Saturday, October 1st
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The clouds came in, so we showed a presentation on the Solar System inside the YMCA, the audience participated with many questions.
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Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the North Lakeland Discovery Center
Saturday, September 3rd, 7:15 - 10:00 PM
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Another amazing night at the Discovery Center, after watching a presentation on our Solar System many saw the crescent moon up close with many craters, then Saturn with its rings and 4 of its many moons, later we saw Jupiter with 4 moons and a few storm bands, we were going to view more but the clouds came in.
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Artemis Presentation, Stargazing
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with the Northwoods Explorers
at the Minocqua Winter Park,
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Friday, August 5th
8:30-10:30 PM
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Our speaker, Bob Kreuger, presented a great perspective into NASA's Artemis mission to the moon. Our visitors had a chance to look through 3D glasses at Mar's rover's images while on Mars, and checked out a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite.
We then went outside and observed the moon with many of its craters using high-performance telescopes, then M13 - the great globular cluster in Hercules, next was M57, the Ring Nebula, and viewed the beautiful double star Albireo in Cygnus. Later in the evening we saw Saturn and its rings, but it was low on the horizon, so it wasn't the best view. In a few weeks it will be higher - check out our events in the Fall to get a better view of Saturn and Jupiter.
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Solar Exploration at the YMCA
of the Northwoods
Friday, July 22, 9-11 AM
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The seeing was very good, we saw many prominences, flares, sunspots, filaments, over the course of one hour, one prominence grew and flew away from the sun!
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We setup 4 stations to rotate 70 K-5 campers, with learning how moon phases work, the central pressure point and center of gravity with rocket balloons, sunburn detector UV bead bracelets, modeling the Solar System's scale, 3D images of Mars from our rovers (thanks JPL), investigated a 4.5 billion year old meteorite, and with an 80mm Lunt Solar Scope, many had their first experiences looking through a telescope and seeing the Sun up close in Ha light, we all had a great time!
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Stargazing with the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers
at Lowenwood
July 18
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At the beautiful Lowenwood retreat with amazing science teachers, we discussed some of the successes using hands-on models to teach astronomy. They continued to explore how to weave astronomy into their programs.
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Thunderstorms prevented the opportunity to observe.
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Solar Observing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the Minocqua Winter Park Sunday 1-3 PM June 26
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We had a great time observing the Sun in between the clouds, we saw a few prominences, flares, filaments, and sunspots. We showed a short presentation on how stars are created and how they blow up sometimes.
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Warning: Do not look directly at the Sun without proper equipment, it can be very harmful to your eyes.
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Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the Minocqua Winter Park, Friday, June 3rd
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We had great skies but the mosquitos bugged us for the first hour, then they disappeared! We saw a beautiful Crescent Moon, then as it became darker, M13 - the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, then M57 the Ring Nebula, which is a star that has expelled most of its mass, we also saw a couple of faint fuzzies near M81 which were spiral galaxies that are about 12 million light years distant. Dew appeared at 10:30 so we packed up. Even at that hour, it was still somewhat light, sky glow was bright, this time of year there's only about 3 hours of astronomical darkness!
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Total Lunar Eclipse
Sunday, May 15th, 2022
Minocqua Winter Park, 9-11 PM
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The weather cooperated at first, we set up, then went inside the Chalet for our moon hands-on activity, learning about eclipses, moon phases, supermoons, the moon's day, and more. We went back outside to catch the moon's entry into the Umbra, sprinkles started then turned into rain! Yikes! We packed up what we could, then watched the rest with binoculars. What we saw was Beautiful!! We hope to see the next total Lunar eclipse on Nov 8th, 2022, in the very early morning.
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In-between the clouds we saw the International Space Station zoom overhead.
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For more information see Total Lunar Eclipse on May 15–16, 2022 – Where and When to See (timeanddate.com) and EarthSky | Total lunar eclipse on May 15-16, 2022
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Stargazing with the Northwoods Explorers
at the Minocqua Winter Park, Saturday, May 7th, 2022
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Another fantastic evening at the Minocqua Winter Park, the wind died down, clouds were thin, we observed the crescent moon at 250x and M13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, some 25,000 light years distant, at 250x however, we only counted about a thousand stars, not the 500 thousand that are supposedly there!
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Aurora Watch on Squirrel Hill October 30th, 2021
The CME went south of our planet!!
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We had a great time at the Squirrel Hill Lookout but the G3 rated storm didn't occur. However, we had an amazing view of our Galaxy! We observed Jupiter and 3 of its moons, Saturn and its rings, and the amazing moon Titan, then M13 the great Hercules Globular Cluster of around 500,000 stars, and the Ring nebula. The skies were clear enough to see M31, the Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million light years away, with our naked eyes! Then we looked at it through imaged stabilized binoculars, it was as wide as a few full moons.
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Wisconsin Science Festival
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A statewide celebration for school-aged children and their families.
Solar System Science Oct 21 - 5 PM, 2021
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We had a great turnout at the Minocqua Public Library, they watched a presentation on “Solar System Science - Order out of Chaos” as a part of the Wisconsin Science Festival. They watched the Jet Propulsion Laboratory control center land Curiosity on Mars, then the JUNO mission's close-up views of Jupiter, and Cassini's mission revealing a wonderful view of Saturn.
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Afterward, many children enjoyed trying to lift an 18 pound 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite! The skies cleared enough for most everyone to observe Jupiter with 3 of its moons and Saturn. The seeing was very good considering the nearby streetlamps. Dew started around 7 PM with temps at 37 F.
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We plan to schedule more events at the Minocqua Library soon, stay in touch by signing up for event notifications.
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"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."
- Benjamin Franklin
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