Caltech Stars in Otherworldly Dark Sky Festival

Caltech participates in astronomy events in national parks and other destinations to help travelers from all over America and the world learn about and enjoy the cosmos we peer into each night.

In the 2024 Dark Sky Festival in Death Valley, 15 experts from campus and seven from JPL gave talks and led interactive demonstrations. More than 3,500 visitors attended the in-depth public programs and 3,678 visited the exploration fair, despite gales, clouds, and dust that caused cancellations of stargazing and most outdoor events.

Throughout the weekend, visitors chose among free events in several formats: pub talks and trivia, auditorium presentations, astrophotography classes, an exploration fair, and, after the wind calmed, sky viewing and guided outdoor programs.

The event is produced annually by the national park, the Death Valley Natural History Association, and astronomers and planetary scientists from Caltech, the SETI Institute, and three NASA centers: Goddard Space Flight Center, Ames Research Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, which Caltech founded and manages for NASA). The Caltech Astro outreach group led by research scientist Cameron Hummels organizes participation by campus scientists. Hummels is director of astrophysics outreach activities for the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy.

“Death Valley makes the perfect location for a public science festival focused on space,” Hummels says. “The night skies are incredibly dark for stargazing, and the landscape is analogous to several other planetary surfaces, such as Mars, Titan, and even Tatooine!”