Public Star Parties

LAAS maintains an active calendar of Public Star Parties in front of Griffith Observatory. We do this on average, once a month, and add additional activities, whenever special events occur. We arrange the regular calendar a year in advance with the observatory staff, and respond to unplanned surprises as we can. During recent Mars Opposition, over 50,000 people were counted over roughly 4-month viewing window at LAAS organized star parties. And the LAAS provided telescopes and Volunteer for each of the viewing events. All of our members are encouraged to take part in the opportunity to introduce the public to the sky at our public star parties.

Important Notice for LAAS Members (not the General Public)

LAAS Members who are attending the Public Star Party need to email the Public Star Party Coordinator. Members of the public do not need reservations, nor do they need to email the coordinator.

PJ Goldfinger handles our Griffith Observatory Public Star Party List. Even though patrons may drive up freely and reservations are no longer needed, we will continue to keep a sign up list for this event. Please note changes may occur
in future PSP events and to read the policy below each month. 

LAAS Members must still sign up on time - Deadline is no later than the Tuesday night prior to the Saturday GO Public Star Party each month.Attendance is only granted once a confirmation email has been received. The list information required is:

• Your name, the name of any LAAS members and non-members in your car.
• Whether or not you will be bringing a telescope.

It is primarily the main focus of any LAAS member who attends this event to be of Public Service with their telescopes in showing the patrons of Griffith Observatory the delights of the nighttime sky. New Members are not expected to adhere to this policy. Please feel free to come up and enjoy the event given you are signed up.

Parking will be on the east side of the Griffith Observatory Hill designated for GO employees. A guard will be stationed with the LAAS GO PSP list. It is always wise to have one’s LAAS name badge and/or club ID on them just in case. Unloading telescope and equipment will remain the same procedure as well, with a drive up, drop off and park down hill routine. The list currently has been updated to 30 spots for LAAS members. First come, first serve.

2009 Star Party Dates are listed in the table below.

Date	Sunset	Moon Phase
Mar 7	5:55 p.m. PST	86%
Apr 4	7:17 p.m. PDT	74%
May 2	7:38 p.m. PDT	60%
May 30	7:59 p.m. PDT	25%
Jun 27	8:09 p.m. PDT	32%
Jul 25	8:00 p.m. PDT	19%
Aug 29	7:23 p.m. PDT	72%
Sep 26	6:44 p.m. PDT	56%
Oct 24	6:08 p.m. PDT	38%
Nov 21	4:47 p.m. PST	23%
Dec 19	4:47 p.m. PST	10%

Map to Griffith Observatory Satellite

Please also check out our Member-Only Dark Sky Star Parites.

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