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.

Upcoming Star Party Dates are listed in the table below.

Date	Sunset	Moon Phase
Jan 12	5:04 p.m. PST	19% illuminated
Feb 16	5:38 p.m. PST	79% illuminated
Feb 20	5:42 p.m. PST	Total Eclipse
Mar 15	7:02 p.m. PDT	65% illuminated
Apr 12	7:23 p.m. PDT	51% illuminated
May 10	7:45 p.m. PDT	36% illuminated
Jun 7	8:03 p.m. PDT	22% illuminated
Jul 12	8:07 p.m. PDT	75% illuminated
Aug 16	7:39 p.m. PDT	Full Moon
Sep 6	7:12 p.m. PDT	43% illuminated
Oct 4	6:33 p.m. PDT	27% illuminated
Nov 8	4:54 p.m. PST	76% illuminated
Dec 6	4:44 p.m. PST	60% illuminated

Map to Griffith Observatory Satellite

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

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