A Night at The Pattonville Observatory

The Pattonville Observatory and Planetarium Public Viewing Session

195 Fee Fee Road (next to the gym, door is below the dome)
Below is the info for the next session.
Please join us and bring friends!

Next Session:

Friday, March 8, 2024

7-9 pm

Website:  https://sites.google.com/psdr3.org/observatory/ 

Information hotline: 314-213-8034


The Observatory will be open regardless of the weather. This evening will be an excellent opportunity to discuss the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8th.  We will discuss the best places in the area to view the eclipse and how to view it safely.  Eclipse glasses will be available for those who attend!

The Moon will be in a waning crescent phase and will be not be visible tonight.  As a result, we might be able to get a good view of some of the dimmer objects in the sky. 

Jupiter will be in the west, Uranus will be slightly higher.  These will be the only two planets visible for the evening as Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Venus and Mercury are all below the horizon

The “Celestial Six-Pack” of winter constellations consisting of Auriga, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Taurus, Orion and Gemini are in great position and will be with us for the next month. They are marked by the stars that form a giant circle and include Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Caster, Capella, Aldebaran, and Rigel with Betelgeuse in the middle. Leo, with it’s bright star Regulus is well positioned in the East.

We will look at the large open cluster The Pleiades or M45 in the Orion Short tube 80mm widefield refractor. M36, M37 and M38, also called the Starfish Cluster in Auriga, M42 the Great Orion Nebula in Orion, M44 the Beehive Cluster in Cancer, and M35 in Gemini are also on the list.   M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest neighbor and the Double Cluster will also be targets.

Come spend the evening viewing the cosmos with your family, residents and non-residents are welcome!  Students, who are accompanied by their parents, are especially welcome!  Please take note that the dome is not heated or cooled, so pay attention to the weather and dress in a manner that is appropriate for the evening temperature conditions.  If it is raining or cloudy, a planetarium program will be presented instead.