Stargazing Adventures
… bringing the night sky to you!
Private astronomy instruction by astronomer, author, and TV personality John Mosley
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Programs
John offers stargazing programs for individuals, small groups, and the public.
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Individual Instruction
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• constellation & star identification
• how to use your telescope
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You can "rent" John for an hour or more to get a customized tour of the night sky or instruction on how to use your telescope (or both). John will customize the stargazing session to meet your needs. Do you wish to learn the constellations? To know about movements in the sky? To better understand meteors and meteor showers? Or just to learn about the wonders of the beautiful dark night sky overhead? John will provide individual or small group instruction under the night sky, tailored for you and your guests.
John is familiar with most telescopes and can assist you in learning how to operate yours. If you have a telescope that is going unused or under-used, John can help you learn how to operate it safely and properly with hints on how to point it and what to look at. He can troubleshoot defective telescopes but cannot repair them. He can recommend additional eyepieces and accessories to make your telescope operate more efficiently.
Add a telescope for an additional flat fee of $100.
See Notes below.
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$25/hour/1 person | $10/hour each additional person | with telescope add $100
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Group Star Parties with a Telescope
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John's computerized and motorized 4-inch refractor ready for a night of observing in the Arizona desert.
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This is a perfect activity to cap a birthday party or other special event, and it will make for a very memorable evening.
John loves to talk about the sky and to interpret its wonders. He's done this for over 50 years, both as a hobby and professionally, and very few people do it better. John points out constellations and bright stars, whichever planets are visible, and the Milky Way with his green laser pointer, and provides endless anecdotes and insights relating to the history of the constellations, the birth, life, and death of stars, distances in space, our place within the Milky Way Galaxy, how the sky changes with time, and much more. People are amazed at how many interesting things there are to know about the sky overhead, and John puts on an entertaining show that many people claim is the highlight of the week.
John travels with a superb TeleVue 4-inch refracting telescope -- the most excellent telescope in its size range (read this review). During the star party, his wife Barbara points the telescope toward a variety of celestial objects including the moon and planets (whichever are visible), star clusters, gaseous nebulae, and distant galaxies. Groups are small, so everyone gets a leisurely look.
The maximum recommended group size is 20, although John speaks to groups as small as a handful and as large as 60. Perhaps surprisingly, most people remain a full two hours!
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$200/two hours (noncommercial; see last note)
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Notes:
- Guests should dress warmly. It is chillier at night than expected when sitting or standing still.
- Guests should bring binoculars if they have them, and flashlights. Guests should bring folding chairs if the site permits, for comfort.
- The host is responsible for arranging for the site to be as dark as possible by extinguishing or covering outdoor lighting. If the site is on a lawn, the host should make sure that the lawn sprinklers do not come on!
- John will use a voice amplification system for groups larger than 12 persons.
- It is not OK to charge admission for the event without prior approval from John. (See last note below.)
- John will assist with ideas for publicity.
- Heavy clouds or rain cancels the event. The event can proceed with half cloud cover or less.
- John needs to drive his car to the site to unload his telescope, and to park adjacent. Allow 20 minutes to set up.
- Cash only please; checks by prior approval.
- Rates listed are for private events. For commercial events or events where admission is charged, contact John.
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Making a Kitchen Comet
(offered by special arrangement only)
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John cooking a kitchen comet in a children's clothing store in California.
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John cooks a "kitchen comet" out of dry ice and household ingredients and explains what comets are, why they appear the way they do, and relates them to asteroids, meteors, and meteorites (with actual meteorites to see and touch). It entertains people of all ages from the very young to the old and jaded, and he has made a comet for groups as diverse as youngsters in a Children's Museum to CNN Headline News.
The demonstration lasts 30-90 minutes.
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$200/demonstration
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