What would you charge/expect to pay for a private astronomy session?

[Brian Castro]

I do a lot of sidewalk astronomy and similar outreach. I recently had
someone reach out to me asking if I could offer them a private
"astronomy tour" for their boyfriend's birthday... Basically they want
me to bring my telescope to them, and do private astronomy lesson in
their backyard.

I love the idea of doing this, but it certainly moves the activity
from something I will do for fun for free... to something where I
would want compensation. While I don't believe anyone should ever have
to pay to look through a telescope, I can't say the same about getting
me to commit to a time and place to come bring one to you, plus
organization/planning of the event, driving there, etc.

Has anyone ever done this? Either for a private individual, or for a
larger event where you were "hired" to bring a telescope? If so, how
much did you charge, or would you see as a reasonable amount to ask
for compensation?

Making the cosmos freely available to people is a core value of my
work, but this certainly seems a bit different than sidewalk
astronomy... So I'm hoping someone here has done some sort of
"professional" amature astronomy, and might have some tips, haha.

--
Brian Castro
brian.g...@gmail.com
www.briangcastro.com
914 815 1607

[Joshua Hutchins]

I have seen a mention of https://nightskyadventure.com/private-events-booking which does private observing (kinda like what you are considering?).  https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/nightskyadventure/items/209486/calendar/2025/12/?full-items=yes is their booking pages which lists $895 for a private group viewing, up to 16 people, at their observing site.

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[Akarsh Simha]

Hi Brian

I don’t have much insight to offer here although I have pondered the idea myself. I have often asked myself what happens if the weather fails to cooperate, if somebody has a liability incident (eg: falling off a ladder or tripping in the dark), or if some of my equipment fails to perform. Seems like a good deal of pressure. Of course if it’s someone you know, might be easier.

I just wanted to write saying I follow your Instagram page and the work you do and it’s nice to hear from you on TAC!

Regards

Akarsh

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[Mark Scrivener]

As someone who does private events for a living (I'm a musician, haven't done astronomy for hire), I can tell you what people will pay (and what you can or should charge) varies wildly. A kid from a lower income family wants guitar lessons and will come to your house - pretty cheap. A rich family in Atherton wants private lessons at their house - a lot more. A rich family wants your band to play at their wedding - big bucks.

I would think "private astronomy" would be the same way - a high end corporate event or a wedding is gonna be big dollars (and you should be entertaining). A private event for a couple could be expensive or cheap, depending on who they were and what their expectations were.

But here is the big caveat - if you are getting paid, you better have liability insurance. You never know what could happen. A year ago at the Bryce Canyon public star party, a ranger escorting people to the bus tripped, hit his head, and died. Freak accident for sure (and a horrible tragedy), but imagine if that was a guest at an event you were hired to put on, and they tripped over your equipment.

Mark

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[Bill Haddon]

Re holding private events for $’s:

 1) liability insurance —YES YES YES

  2) Eyepieces  must be at “eye level “ so probably no big dobs.  Perhaps provide a sturdy platform if there are young ones — know who is attending.

3) NO LADDERS

Standard rates for tutoring in the sciences average about $60 per hour.

$.70 per mile for travel?

Maybe 2 hours of instruction/demonstration ?: but if the boyfriend, or the girlfriend, gets really interested perhaps just keep going for a while at no extra charge- hoping to get a ‘convert’ to amateur astronomy!! Above all, express enthusiasm and excitement about night sky observing. *

For 10 years at Taylor Obs-Norton Planetarium (Lake County) I helped visitors look through a 16” Meade LX-200 while they stood on a sturdy ladder/platform that may have been built for aircraft boarding (DC-3’s?). No one ever fell, but the worry was stressful.  The scope was mounted on a 5-ft pier.  (we  sold the Meade just prior to the company’s demise — Replacement scope is a 14” Celestron RASA)

Bill Haddon. (now living in cloudy VA)

*Irrelevant for this discussion —I just learned, from watching a video commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Johnny Carson’s birth, that Johnny was a dedicated amateur astronomer, owned several high-end telescopes and of course was a good friend of Prof Sagan.

On Nov 24, 2025, at 11:21 PM, Mark Scrivener <markwsc...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[miloc...@gmail.com]

Good answers so far.  My short answer is:  "it depends".  My only direct experience was doing a wedding reception, and I did not charge anything.  My "compensation" was access to a dark site on a hill, in a part of the county I wanted to see at night.  And champagne.  My  liability insurance was covered by my club, as I called it a club event.  

Looking at what IT consultants, auto mechanics, and other specialists charge, I would not hesitate to charge $125 - $150 / hr including travel, or more if the participants are drinking.  If you're not doing it for the reason I did, other considerations might include whether or not it's a favor for a friend, distance, set-up difficulty, size of audience, time-at-site, and whether or not any other prep is involved.

For insurance purposes, it could not hurt to have the host join your club, whether you charge or not.

Jim B

[Brian Castro]

Thanks for all the tips! 

I thought about insurance for someone knocking over and destroying a telescope, but not for liability. I never thought of a telescope as a "dangerous" thing,  but you're right that freak accidents do happen. Awful to hear about the Bryce Canyon incident. It was actually volunteering at Bryce's Star Parties back in 2013 that got me started on doing Astro outreach. Very fond memories of those nights, and had quitoe a lasting impact on me.

I'm thinking I might quote them a  "higher" rate (Some of the rates I'm come across are crazy) but offer them a steep discount as they are my first clients, and they can tell thier friends and perhaps that could lead to doing it more often. Still need to figure out how much exactly, ha!

[John Sims]

A clown for a birthday party might cost $300/hour. I would take that as my minimum:-)

You could also offer a rebate depending on how many join or donate to SJAA.

Good lick!

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[mtoma...@comcast.net]

I too have thought about this a lot.  And I have posted this same question many months ago.

While I never have provided such service as an individual, I have participated in private events led by The Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy ("MIRA", https://mira.org).  

This organization's pricing policy:

• No charge for non-profit groups (e.g., school groups) when the event is more educational in spirit than entertaining.
• Charge for private events (mostly as evening entertainment during business conferences held locally).

MIRA"s liability insurance covers whatever happens at these events.

MIRA recently charged low four figures for two hours of stargazing for three telescopes/astronomers for a private event, paid as a tax-deductible donation.  No presentation.  Just stargazing.  And because two of the astronomers were members of the MIRA Astronomy Club, the club got half of the fee.  (Our club has no dues, so events like this are very important to us.)  Participating club members received no direct compensation.

If I were to provide an evening of stargazing to an organized event hosted by a for-profit entity, I would consider these costs:

• The time it takes for me to pack, travel, set-up, tear down, travel, unpack, and inspect/clean optics.
• The time spent during the stargazing event.
• The cost of liability insurance.
• My "expertise" in astronomy (such as it is)
• Depreciation of the equipment used.  (Live music sound system engineers have told me that they charge 20% of the replacement cost of their equipment.)

Something I learned many years ago:  the marketplace determines the sell price.  Your costs determine whether or not you choose to participate in the market.

For a small two-hour event as part of a larger private event, I would quote high (at least $1000).  That's a rounding error for corporate events and wedding "weekend marathons" these days.  Then I would react to the inquirer's reaction, to determine if there can be a deal.  But again, I've never actually had the opportunity to do such an event on my own.

I would appreciate hearing of the experiences of other members of this forum.

[Stacy Jo McDermott]

I've done this (a wedding, a birthday) and I charged mileage + $250 for a 90 minute session.  

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[James Webster]

I was asked to do this as an event. I immediately thought of the liability, uncooperative weather, limited range of viewing from a back yard with light pollution, logistics, effort, inconvenience, etc. I would charge $500 an hour, plus travel time and set up at the same rate. Maybe more. It was something I didn't want to do, and it just didn't seem feasible. It was about an hour drive away in a gated country club community. Nothing was mentioned about compensation, just an assumption that I would be there, so I aggressively asked how much they would pay me in advance for my labor. Nothing, I should be honored to attend the party and would I bring the booze. I declined.

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[Rod Brown]

When I've been asked to do a private session for someone I don't know, I ask them to make a donation to my local club, whatever they think is appropriate. Last time they donated $150.

Rod

[Brian Castro]

A further piece of context I did not mention earlier, I am actually
hoping to start a side-business or perhaps even career change
involving more astronomy education and outreach. So I also see this as
getting me started on all of that.

I was actually planning to do this before they emailed me, so the
timing is fortuitous.

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[James Webster]

I would think a sideline in manufacturing for observing convience, would be viable. Especially something like motorized wheel barrow handlebars or an adapted trailer lift for large dobsonians. The Pi Finder is an example on an item of convience. No more wires to trip over in the dark, nor the need for a bulky Telrad.

 

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[Steven R.]

PiFinder indeed replaces the RACI finder, but you'd still need a Telrad or red-dot sight to do the initial PiFinder alignment. Similar for the Hopper e-finder.

Clear skies,

-Steven

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[Ted Hauter]

This makes sense. If somebody needs to fill a void or thinks that a star party that is even close by is not something they want to deal with they can email someone to come to them or one on one with them to knowing there is no interference with money paid.

A heads up after thousands of people over a dozen years at national parks and observatory, a party atmosphere might add phones and alcohol even music. Which all sounds good.  But be upfront that seeing anything they paid for will not happen along with these other things.

Have them point out something they are interested in that is up near the Zenith and have them learn about it that day before the paid night begins.

Charge what your time is worth to you and see where it goes from there.

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[Richard Ozer]

We’ve done it with proceeds going to a non profit. Once, I raised ten grand for the effort! Usually a couple / few hundred.

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[Ted Hauter]

Congratulations Richard!

Oh yeah, I've been outreaching 17 years next year!

How many people will look through that TV 85...

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