Sobre nosotros

Land & Sky Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that we are living, meeting, teaching, learning, and enjoying the night sky as colonizers in the unceded and occupied territory of the Eastern Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, Northern Arapaho, Cheyenne and many other indigenous peoples whose past, present and future generations steward these lands and skies. The current arrangement of the stars into constellations that are drawn from the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, as well as from European colonizers in South America are but one of a myriad of arrangements of stars into constellations created by native peoples living in every corner of the globe. Their arrangements of stars into constellations told their own stories and are no less valid than the currently accepted astronomical constellations.  We acknowledge the deep connection to this place including the skies above it established and passed on through innumerable generations living and carrying out their hopes, their dreams, and their lives on these lands and under these skies from which they were forcibly removed. Their stories of the skies predate ours and contain much wisdom. We offer respect to their elders? past, present and future. We acknowledge the legacies of violence, displacement, migration and settlement that bring each of us together here in the present. 

Anti-Discrimination Statement

Wyoming Stargazing does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, ethnicity, national origin, or disability in our hiring practices, in our programming practices, or in any other aspect of our organization. Despite our best efforts to provide equitable access to our programs, we are acutely aware of how economic disadvantages and other disparities can prohibit students from accessing learning opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. We want to further our mission of educating and inspiring everyone by promoting Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in STEM. We are also aware that there is currently an imbalance of power among the various demographic groups within our community and within our organization. We are actively trying to make that balance of power more equitable. We always strive to create safe and inclusive spaces for everyone through open and honest communication, compassion, deep listening, and patience. However, we are aware of our own limited perspectives and abilities to be perfectly culturally competent and to get it right every time. We therefore welcome feedback on how the Wyoming Stargazing community can continue to become a safer more inclusive space for all.

Quienes somos

¡Hacemos que el Universo cobre vida!

Wyoming Stargazing is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Jackson Wyoming that excels at making the often difficult to understand concepts of astronomy accessible to everyone. We offer public and private stargazing programs, solar astronomy programs, planetarium programs, indoor astronomy presentations, and virtual astronomy programs. You’ll leave our programs with a new understanding of the Universe and a sense of how you are connected to everything in the Cosmos. Don’t forget to look up!

• Conozca al personal y a la junta directiva
• Vea toda nuestra documentación financiera y de otras organizaciones sin fines de lucro

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Nuestra misión

La misión de Wyoming Stargazing es educar e inspirar a través de los extraordinarios cielos de Wyoming y el Universo más allá.

From our own personal experience, we know that learning about astronomy has a “wow factor”  that can inspire and motivate learners of all ages to explore their world. We think of astronomy as a “gateway science” for lifelong curiosity, learning, and exploration of all areas of knowledge. We’ve learned that by offering opportunities to learn about astronomy, to learn how to use telescopes, as well as to learn how to build telescopes, people will develop confidence and ownership of their learning. When we unlock an individual’s potential the sky is not the limit!

We reach out to both the many millions of visitors who come through Jackson Hole every year, as well as to local residents. We are particularly interested in promoting nighttime family programming and in assisting our local school districts in promoting scientific literacy. We provide engaging, entertaining, and educational programs that build on the already extraordinary outdoor programs that exist in Jackson Hole. We hope that tourists leave our programs with a stronger sense of what makes Jackson Hole an amazing place; we hope that local residents will look up more often to enjoy the incredible resource we have above our heads; we hope that we can build awareness around the problems associated with light pollution; and we hope that we can light a spark for learners of all ages who might not know that they have any interest in science.

Our Core Values

At Wyoming Stargazing we share a set of common values that guide everything we do as an organization. Whether it’s internal meetings, a stargazing program at night, a solar astronomy program during the day, a planetarium program, an indoor astronomy presentation, or a virtual astronomy program we share our passion for:

• Our connection with the Universe
• Scientific thinking
• Lifelong learning
• Promoting Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in our organization, our community, and in STEM fields

Our Goals

• To promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in our organization, our community, and in STEM fields
• To provide educational outreach opportunities to Jackson Hole residents and visitors through public stargazing, solar astronomy programs, planetarium program, indoor presentations, and virtual astronomy programming
• To support local educators by developing and implementing STEM curriculum
• To protect dark night skies  by offering educational materials and presentations concerning light pollution, its effects, and its mitigation in Jackson Hole and the surrounding area
• To provide support and services to private organizations in order to bring observatories and planetariums to Jackson Hole

Our Objectives

• To offer close to 100 public astronomy programs every year.
• To achieve Dark Sky Certification for Jackson, Teton County, and Grand Teton National Parks
• To establish an observatory and planetarium in Jackson Hole that will:
  1. Provide year-round, daytime and nighttime programming opportunities for families and individuals
  2. Establish a multi-use creative lab space for scientific, educational, and artistic programs
  3. Increase the time that visitors stay in Jackson Hole
  4. Create numerous new jobs for our community
  5. Assist surrounding public and private schools in bolstering scientific literacy programs
  6. Represent two new extraordinary reasons for thinking of Jackson Hole as unique
  7. Reach 1 million students by 2030!
• To create a JEDI in STEM Scholarship and Mentorship Program