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, May 3, 2024

8:30-10:30 pm

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

Information hotline: 314-213-8034

The Moon will be in a waning crescent phase, so it will not be visible for tonight.  It should let us see some dimmer objects.

If you make it to the observatory right at the beginning of the session, you should be able to catch Jupiter and Uranus. They will set within half an hour of the beginning.  All of the other planets are below the horizon!

Orion is setting in the West along with the Pleiades and Aldebaran and the Hyades, so we will not have a good opportunity to view the objects around this region for much longer.  This session might be our last with a good view of the “Celestial Six Pack” of constellations.  We will try a look at the open clusters in Auriga, M36, M37 and M38.  We will also view M44, the Beehive Cluster and M13, the globular cluster in Hercules.  The Double Cluster should also be visible.  We will look at a few double stars in the region, including  Alcor and Mizar in Ursa Major, and Castor in Gemini.  We will also take a look at M31 or the Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest neighbor galaxy.

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.