On Friday, January 16th, we gathered at the iconic Griffith Observatory for a regional event that brought families from as far as San Francisco and Las Vegas. We enjoyed a picnic lunch with sweeping views of the Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, Mt. Wilson, and the Pacific Ocean, explored the observatory’s public telescopes, and walked through the Wilder Hall of the Eye to learn how humans have studied the sky over time. The grounds offered hands-on ways to observe the Sun and Moon and stroll a scale model of the solar system. We capped off the day in the planetarium with Signs of Life, a journey through the solar system, the Milky Way, and beyond—exploring how physics and chemistry shape the universe and the ongoing search for life.