The Night Sky Network is a program promoting astronomy outreach by amateur astronomers around the United States. It is a partnership of amateur astronomy clubs, NASA/JPL, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and other organizations.
For an overview, watch the videos on the About the Network page.
Amateur astronomers regularly share their knowledge, time, and telescopes to bring amazing aspects of astronomy to the public.
In ongoing research by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the Institute for Learning Innovation, amateur astronomers express the need for support of their outreach efforts. The main requests were:
- Materials on themed topics
- Training in the use of the materials
- Effective ways to communicate with varied audiences
- Providing services to clubs to expand and support their outreach programs
- Networking with other amateurs doing outreach
The Night Sky Network was inaugurated and has been expanded to help meet these needs.
Amateur astronomers have an interest in providing the public with entertaining, engaging ways to learn basic astronomy concepts. It is one of the NASA education goals as well to improve the American public understanding of astronomy.
The Night Sky Network has been developed and expanded with the dedicated assistance of advisory teams of amateur astronomers and industry experts.