Pasadena Astronomers Bring NASA Policy and Exoplanet Science to Old Pasadena Bar

Two Pasadena-based space scientists will take the stage at a local bar next week to discuss how citizen advocacy helped protect NASA’s budget and what the James Webb Space Telescope is revealing about the atmospheres of distant worlds.

Astronomy on Tap, a free monthly event hosted by Caltech scientists at Dog Haus Biergarten in Old Town Pasadena, returns Monday, February 9, at 7:30 p.m. with talks by Jack Kiraly of The Planetary Society and Tom Greene of IPAC at Caltech.

Kiraly, the society’s director of government relations, will speak on “How You Saved NASA Science and What Happens Next.” Congress recently provided $7.25 billion for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in fiscal year 2026 — rejecting proposed cuts of 47 percent that would have terminated dozens of active missions, according to The Planetary Society. The Pasadena-based organization led grassroots advocacy efforts that helped secure the funding.

Greene, executive director of IPAC and a co-investigator on two James Webb Space Telescope instruments, will present “Studying Exoplanet Atmospheres with Space Telescopes Large and Small.” A former director of the NASA Ames Center for Exoplanet Studies, Greene leads research using JWST to characterize the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars.

IPAC, the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, is a Caltech-based NASA data and science center established in 1985 that supports space missions including the James Webb Space Telescope. The Planetary Society, founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman, is headquartered in Pasadena and describes itself as the world’s largest space advocacy organization with more than 2 million supporters.

The two-hour event includes two 20-minute talks followed by Q&A, guided stargazing with telescopes if weather permits, and astro-themed pub trivia with prizes. The talks begin at 7:30 p.m., with the second talk at 8:30 p.m. and trivia at 9:00 p.m.

The event is free, open to all ages, and requires no reservations. Food and beverages are available for purchase at happy hour prices. Dog Haus Biergarten is located at 93 East Green Street in Old Town Pasadena. Parking is available in a structure one block away.

For more information, contact Cameron Hummels at chummels@caltech.edu or visit astro.caltech.edu/outreach.