Jon Anderson (Coordinator)
Have you ever heard a kid the first time she sees Saturn’s rings? “Amazing!” and “Holy cow!” are the common phrases exclaimed when it happens. San Jose Astronomical Association conducts evening observing sessions, aka star parties, for schools in mid-Santa Clara County, generally from Sunnyvale to Fremont to Morgan Hill.
The School Party Program (SSP) was created to bring excitement and fascination of seeing actual astronomical objects through telescopes to school children who otherwise have only seen them in textbooks. Over the decades this program has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of children with the generous support of volunteer SJAA astronomers. Our vision is for every child to see Saturn.
For other questions about the School Star Party program, email Jon at ssp@sjaa.net
NOTE: The San Jose Astronomical Association conducts evening observing sessions (commonly called “star parties”) for schools in mid-Santa Clara County, generally from Sunnyvale to Fremont to Morgan Hill. Outside of that area, we suggest:
- North of Fremont: Eastbay Astronomical Society;
- South of Morgan Hill: the Mira Observers Group;
- North of Sunnyvale: Peninsula Astronomical Society;
- North of Palo Alto: San Mateo County Astronomical Society;
- Nearer San Francisco: San Francisco Amateur Astronomers.
The AANC (Astronomical Association of Northern California) maintains an extensive list of clubs on their Northern California Astronomy Resource Guide, including contact information for the above clubs and many over the northern part of California.