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:

Thursday, March 28, 2024

8-10 pm

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

Information hotline: 314-213-8034


The Moon will be in a waning gibbous phase, so it will not be visible for tonight’s viewing.  As a result, we should get some nice views of dimmer objects.

Because the Moon is in a waning gibbous phase, that means it’s less than two weeks before new Moon, when we will have a TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE!!!  Are you ready?  Clear or not, the observatory will be open and you can pick up eclipse glasses, and learn where to go and how to be prepared for the eclipse!  So be sure to drop by!

Arrive Early so you can get an opportunity to see Mercury before it sets! Jupiter will be visible just below Uranus.  Mars, Venus,  Neptune and Saturn are below the horizon.

We might have a chance to view a comet called 12P/Pons-Brooks that is now visible near Jupiter  It is magnitude 5.3 which should be visible in our telescope, especially with no Moon in the sky.

The Pleiades and the Hyades are in the west with the major constellations and might make for some nice photos of the night sky.  Bring your camera!  If you have a late version iPhone or other recent phone, we can explore how to take photos of the night sky.

The “Celestial Six-Pack” of winter constellations consisting of Auriga, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Taurus, Orion and Gemini are still in good position. 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.

M41 and M46 in Canis Major will be targets and we will see if we can find the planetary nebula in M46. We will also look at M44, the Beehive Cluster and  M42, the Great Orion Nebula in Orion, 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 program will still be presented.