UACNJ Observatory at Jenny Jump

Hope, New Jersey

The "UACNJ Observatory at Jenny Jump" is located at Latitude 40° 54' 26.8" North, Longitude 74° 55' 31.8" West, and 1100 feet above sea level in Jenny Jump State Forest, near Hope, New Jersey, in Warren County. The site is one of the few dark sky locations left in the state. The facility has a 16-inch Newtonian telescope in its Greenwood Observatory and maintains an education center with a lecture hall and a modest New Jersey astronomy museum. A research library, sleeping accommodations, meeting room, full bath and kitchen facilities are available for observers.

The United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey, Inc. (UACNJ) was formed in 1988 as a loosely associated umbrella networking group for New Jersey area amateur astronomy clubs. The UACNJ itself is not a club, but a consortium of a dozen and a half clubs, united to better help support, coordinate, and communicate ideas between the over 1400 individuals who make astronomy their hobby, in and around the state.

The UACNJ helps promote and support amateur astronomy in the New Jersey area by representing its member clubs with its astronomical displays at major area events. The UACNJ's presence has been seen regularly at the Rockland Astronomy Club's "Astronomy Forum" in the spring, the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton's "New Jersey StarQuest" June camp weekend, the Bucks-Mont Astronomical Association's "Stella-Della-Valley" camp weekend in the fall, as well as the UACNJ's own April Astronomy Day and September "UACNJ Symposium" events, held at the UACNJ Observatory. The UACNJ maintains a Speakers' Bureau for member clubs, awards Messier, Asteroid and Spectroscopic Certificates to qualifying observers, and maintains this web site which provides information on member clubs and links directly to all their web sites.

The UACNJ provides free public programs from April through October, on Saturday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m., at which an astronomy presentation is followed by an observing 'Star Party', weather permitting. All programs are held on-site at the UACNJ Observatory at Jenny Jump State Forest.