Grand Canyon Star Party

Grand Canyon Star Party

The Grand Canyon Star Party (GCSP) is held on the South Rim in northern Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park in June every year around the time of the new moon. It is co-sponsored between the National Park Service and the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association.

All AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS must register using below information to attend. Interested public of all ages are invited and no registration is required! A visit to the breathtaking Grand Canyon is an unforgettable and fabulous vacation for families, singles, and seniors. Add a week of dark Arizona skies, lots of friends, fun, and astronomy education, and you have a recipe for perfection!

GCSP 2024

The 2024 Grand Canyon Star Party is scheduled for June 1 – 8, 2024. Astronomer Volunteer Registration will be open 3-4 months prior to the event and an Announcement Email will be sent to prospective volunteers. Registration will close one week prior to event start (May 25, 2024).

Volunteer Registration Information

ASTRONOMER REGISTRATION IS CURRENTLY OPEN

Astronomer Volunteers MUST complete the Volunteer Service Agreement form and the Astronomer Registration form at a minimum. IF you are also requesting one of the complimentary campsites, you must complete that application as well.

To register as a National Park Service Volunteer at the South Rim, please click the below link to complete the Volunteer Service Agreement. Sign electronically and PRINT or print and sign manually. BRING A HARDCOPY WITH YOU TO TURN INTO THE NPS. This is MANDATORY to participate in the Star Party.

2024 GCSP VOLUNTEER SERVICE Agreement

To register as an Astronomer Volunteer at the South Rim, please click the link below. This is MANDATORY to participate in the Star Party.

2024 GCSP ASTRONOMER Registration

IMPORTANT. If you plan to stay in one of the complimentary campsites, register using the below link. You must do this IN ADVANCE as the campsite availability can go quickly.

2024 GCSP CAMPGROUND Application

All other Volunteer Forms are available at this link and must be read prior to volunteering at GCSP.

Print and BRING the Hours and Contacts form and turn in the completed form upon completion of your service. Failure to complete and submit will result in NOT being allowed to use a complimentary campsite next year. You may also want to print and bring any of the other forms, especially yhr Social Flyer. We will have some hardcopies available at the event.

For more information for the South Rim star party please contact:

GCSP Team
Director: Jim Knoll
Registrar: Gary Wells
Campground Coordinator: Mae Smith
Lead Ranger: Rader Lane

Mail:
GCSP Registrar
Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association
P.O. Box 41254
Tucson, AZ 85717

Registrar E-mail: gcsp-registrar[at]tucsonastronomy.org
General Information or to contact the team: gcsp[at]tucsonastronomy.org

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. Also visit the excellent National Park Services star party site. And here is a time lapse video taken by past TAAA member Dean Ketelsen at the 2011 event and a GCSP 2022 Timelapse from Bob Rose.

Or to RSVP for the North Rim star party please contact:

Steve Rottas, Saguaro Astronomy Club
Coordinator, Grand Canyon Star Party, North Rim
E-mail: gcnrspcoordinator[at]saguaroastro[dot]org

GCSP Future Dates

  • June 21-28, 2025
  • June 06-13, 2026
  • May 31-June 5, 2027
  • June 17-24, 2028
  • June 2-9, 2029
  • June 22-29, 2030
  • June 14-21, 2031
  • June 5-12, 2032
  • June 18-25, 2033
  • June 10-17, 2034
  • June 2-9, 2035

Videos and photos from previous GCSP’s

GCSP 2022 Timelapse (Bob Rose)

Pictures from Bob Rose and Jim Knoll of a GCSP event.

Jim Knoll
Telescope Field

Jim KnollCrowd at evening talk

Bob Rose
Telescope Field
Bob rose
Telescope Field

GCSP Background

The current version of the Grand Canyon Star Party began 1991 as the first anniversary of Dean and Vicki Ketelsen’s honeymoon there. It was noticed that a telescope set up looking at the Canyon or sky soon gathered a crowd, so a public oriented event was planned. Though tens of thousands visit every day, a small fraction stay overnight to be treated to the spectacular views of the night sky there. The appreciative tourists tend to leave before 11 pm, leaving the astronomers in solitude after 11:30 pm in solitude for observing far into the night.

Prior to 1991, the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers made annual pilgrimages to several western National Parks in the late 1970s and 1980s, spending several weeks at each stop, including the Grand Canyon. The latest version of this star party has been readily endorsed by several of their members who have become regular attendees.

The South Rim Grand Canyon Star Party is co-sponsored by the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association and the National Park Service.