Bringing the heavens down to Earth for over a century. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific was founded in 1889 by a group of Northern California professional and amateur astronomers after joining together to view a rare total solar eclipse. The ASP's earliest purpose was to disseminate astronomical information - a mission which has flourished with astronomers' inexhaustible exploration of the universe working at the frontiers of science. The ASP has become the largest general astronomy society in the world