Abstract
This study examines family experiences at nighttime telescope observing events. The goal was to observe family visitors and understand how they negotiate meaning and incorporate these experiences into their family culture. In this case study of one family’s telescope observing experience, the participants’ motivations and
agenda are described as well as ways in which they negotiated identity and family community membership at the same time as they were involved in the construction of meaning. The analysis revealed evidence of both meaning making and identity negotiation during, and related to, the educational leisure activity of attending a nighttime telescope observing event.
