Explore the Cosmos in Grand Teton National Park
Immerse yourself in an intimate setting with just your family & friends with our expert astronomers (and maybe a howling coyote or two) to experience the beauty our night skies have to offer.
Duration: 2.5 – 4 hrs (depending on location)
Availability: All Year
Maximum Group Size: 13 People
(6 and younger are FREE)
Feel free to give us a call
1-844-WYO-STAR (1-844-996-7827) to avoid the 6% online booking fee.
Compared to our multi-group stargazing programs where we combine groups together up to 13 people, a private stargazing tour give all the attention from our enthusiastic astronomers directly to you, your family and friends. There will be virtually no wait time to look through our telescopes, which means that during the evening we’ll be able to show you the maximum number of extraordinary objects in the sparkling night sky!
All year long we offer exclusive Private Stargazing Programs in remote dark sky locations within Grand Teton National Park for just your group of family and friends. We’ll set up one of our telescopes to show you planets, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and more. We’ll also have plenty of iPads ready with the StarWalk app on them so you can continue exploring the heavens while the rest of your group is entranced through the telescopes. You’ll leave our programs with a new understanding of the Cosmos and a cosmic sized helping of SOUP (Sense of Universal Place).
Cancellation and Rebooking Policy
IThe satisfaction of our customers is Wyoming Stargazing’s primary concern. We strive to offer engaging, inspiring, and educational stargazing programs. Wyoming Stargazing will use our telescopes to help our customers see the Cosmos whenever possible. However, sometimes the weather only allows us to engage our customers with the stories about the night sky without getting to see much through the telescopes.
In the event of inclement weather, we do our best to re-book stargazing programs for another night. Please consider booking programs early during a trip so that in the event of a weather issue we have the chance to stargaze another night.
At the time of booking we collect payment in full which includes a 10% nonrefundable deposit regardless of the outcome of the weather on the night of the program. In the event that we have to cancel the stargazing program or if the weather prevents us from showing some or all of the typical objects we will offer a partial refund of up to 90% of the total cost of the program (excluding the 6% nonrefundable online booking fee if customers booked themselves online).
If the program is canceled by the customer within 48 hours of the scheduled start time of the program there is no refund. However, we understand that life happens so we’ll always do our best to be reasonable and work with each customer on an individual basis to try to make things right.
If the program is rebooked at the request of the customer Wyoming Stargazing will charge a 5% administration fee in addition to the 10% nonrefundable deposit.
Trip Highlights
Biggest Telescopes in Grand Teton
We’ll have a telescope with a very big mirror for your stargazing program (much bigger than any other vendor in Grand Teton NP). That means you’ll get to have the light from galaxies millions of light years away actually hit your eye! Some newer, fancier telescopes can show you colored pictures of deep space objects, but they don’t allow light to actually hit your eye.
Dark Sky Certified
After 10 years of hard work, Wyoming Stargazing was able to get all of Teton County certified as the world’s 1st county to receive Dark Sky designation. That means there is relatively little light pollution. Combine that with our high elevation and arid climate and have a great recipe for seeing thousands of stars on moonless nights, the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy and so much more.
Astronomers
Wyoming Stargazing employs knowledgeable and enthusiastic astronomers as our guides. They not only have a huge amount of knowledge of the night sky, but are also very good at explaining the complicated details about what you are looking at.
Dark Sky Initiatives
Jackson Hole, the valley where the town of Jackson resides, is mostly protected, undeveloped public land. That means there is relatively little light pollution. Combine that with our high elevation and arid climate and have a great recipe for seeing thousands of stars on moonless nights, the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy and so much more.
Wyoming Stargazing is proud to have put in the time and effort to make Teton County the world’s first International Dark Sky Community. Wyoming Stargazing is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The proceeds from our private stargazing programs are used to increase access to STEM education and to promote dark night sky conservation.
What’s included
- Experienced, passionate, and knowledgeable Stargazing Leaders
- Hotel pick-up from 7:30pm-9:30pm (depending on the season)
- 30-60 min. drive to and from one of the darkest stargazing locations possible in Jackson Hole
- 2 full hours of telescope time shared with just your group
- Camping chairs and blankets
- Use of an iPad with the StarWalk app to explore the sky digitally
- Answers to all your burning questions about the Universe
- Awe-inspiring and educational stargazing program for all ages
- Some Cosmic SOUP (Sense of Universal Place)
Booking Tips
We encourage you to book your stargazing program at the beginning of your trip. That way, if we need to reschedule because of bad weather, we have a better opportunity to do so.
Feel free to give us a call at 1-844-WYO-STAR (1-844-996-7827) to book your program and avoid the 6% online booking fee.
Some Other Things to Consider
Avoiding “Hubble Envy”
“Hubble Envy” is the expectation of seeing exquisite, colorful images through our telescopes like those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Only with 100s of hours of exposure time with sophisticated cameras can astronomers produce the amazing colorful pictures that you see in magazines. One of our Board Members produces those images with his personal observatory. There are also some new telescopes with build in cameras that project colored pictures. Our telescope DON’T do that.
What our telescopes can do is capture enough light from objects thousands to millions of light years away so that you can see those objects. However, because of the immense distances from those objects, they will appear as little white fuzzy spots through the telescope. We think it’s pretty cool to have photons (light particles) from distant galaxies actually hit your eye through the eyepiece of the telescope. Then, after traveling for millions of years, those photos are converted into electrical signals and become part of your brain!
We want to give you that experience. We have made a conscious choice to use telescopes that provide the best views for a wide array of objects including planets, stars, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, and more. Some other telescopes are better for some of those objects, but our telescopes tow the line on being good at providing views of all of them. You are always welcome to call us 844-996-7827 and chat about the program before signing up online.
Please Trust Us With The Weather
The weather in Jackson during the summer time is more predictable than during the winter. During the summer, we typically get afternoon thunderstorms and cloudy afternoon weather. As the sky begins to get dark and the temperature begins to drop the clouds almost always dissipate, leaving incredibly clear skies for stargazing. Even if it’s still cloudy at 9pm there is a very good chance that by 10pm the skies will be perfectly clear. In the winter, the weather is less predictable. We get about 70% of our annual precipitation in the form of snow. The storms will come in when they will.
Despite a certain level of predictability, there is really no way to know what the weather will be more than a few hours before the start time of your program. We make all weather decisions at 7pm. We’ll make the best determination on whether we should run your program or not based on as much data as possible. We want you to have a great time with us so we won’t send you out there unless we think it’s going to be worth your time and money. We do not allow guests to re-book for weather before that deadline. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Phases of the Moon
Please also keep in mind that the phase of the Moon changes the overall brightness of the night sky. During the week preceding the Full Moon some of the more distant objects that we look at get washed out by the brightness of the Moon. The Moon is amazing to see through the telescope and it’s an amazing experience stargazing under the Full Moon, but you won’t get to see the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy or much detail in deep space objects if your stargazing program occurs five days before the Full Moon and two days after it.
Preparing for Your Program
The heat of the summer days we have here in Jackson can be deceiving – the temperature can drop down to below 40°F at night. Please remember to dress warmly! In the summer you should wear long pants, a warm jacket, closed toed shoes with thick socks, and a hat. In the winter you should dress like you’re going skiing.
Our large telescopes require the use of a ladder to observe. Please contact us if you or anyone in your party cannot use a ladder so that we may accommodate your specific needs.
If you have any special needs, such as ending the program early, we strongly recommend that you book a private stargazing tour so that we can accommodate you to the best of our ability.
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