Stargazing Adventures
… bringing the night sky to you!
Private astronomy instruction by astronomer, author, and TV personality John Mosley
About John Mosley
Stargazing Adventures
… bringing the night sky to you!
Private astronomy instruction by astronomer, author, and TV personality John Mosley
About John Mosley
John has been interpreting the sky to family, friends, and the public since he got his first telescope in 1956. He was a passionate amateur astronomer from an early age ("I've wanted to be an astronomer since I can remember -- certainly since first grade"). He had a backyard observatory in suburban Detroit, and earned a degree in astronomy from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1970. Upon graduation he turned from research to public astronomy and, during his 35-year professional career he worked in two public planetariums: the historic Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake City and the world-famous Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. John was in charge of Griffith's educational activities, and he wrote and produced over 50 planetarium shows (and presented them live), developed museum exhibits, was responsible for the operation of the telescopes, and provided astronomy information to the public and the news media. He has been interviewed over 100 times on local and national television and appeared in more than a dozen documentaries. John became an authority on the Star of Bethlehem (his first book is The Christmas Star, published in 1987).
In the 1990s John wrote four additional books on the sky: The Ultimate Guide to the Sky for children in 1997, Stargazing for Beginners also in 1997, Stargazing with Binoculars and Telescopes in 1998, and Starry Night Companion in 2000. This last book has been included with every copy of Starry Night software sold since 2000. His two stargazing books are available through Amazon.com.
John became a familiar face to Los Angeles residents and to people around the country with his frequent media appearances. John was called on regularly to explain eclipses, discoveries in astronomy, and to be an authority in documentaries, and he has appeared on CNN Headline News, Tom Snyder Show, Good Morning America, AM Los Angeles, Dan Rather Evening News, Today Show, Jim Lehrer News Hour, as well as the local evening news countless times. A separate web page highlights some of these television appearances.
John has also lead expeditions to South America and the Caribbean to watch eclipses and to see Halley's Comet, taught astronomy at the college level and to teachers, and conducted weekend astronomy workshops for families on Palomar Mountain and elsewhere. He edited magazines and a professional journal, wrote a bi-weekly column on the sky that appeared in the Los Angeles Times for six years, and recorded a weekly Sky Report that was very popular for 26 years. He coordinated public star parties sponsored by Hansen Planetarium and Griffith Observatory for 35 years. He is presently active in the International Dark Sky Association.
Since retiring from Los Angeles in 2006, John and his wife Barbara has been traveling the country in their motorhome. They carry a superb telescope, and they seek out dark-sky sites to continue John's life-long hobby of stargazing. He still enjoys explaining the sky to others and likes to conduct public star parties -- so he formed a company Stargazing Adventures to formalize these pursuits. Now you can benefit from John's lifetime of experiences in explaining the sky. Go to the Programs page for descriptions of the stargazing programs that John offers.
Astronomy Books John has Written
John has written five astronomy books, not counting compilations and different editions. You will find these used at Amazon.com (this link will take you directly to John's books). Click here to open a new web page that describes them.
Highlights of John's Astronomy Life in Photos
Click here to open a new page.
John TV Appearances
Click here for a sampling of some of the documentaries John has appeared in and of his television interviews.
John's Resume
Click here for a more formal and complete two-page resume.
John's does not receive postal mail regularly while traveling. Contact him by emailing "john" followed by the "at" symbol and "StargazingAdventures_dot_org".
