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:

The Pattonville Observatory and Planetarium

Public Viewing Session

Friday, March 31, 2023

8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

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

Information hotline: 314-213-8034

The Moon will be in a waxing gibbous phase very close to the Beehive Cluster (M44), so it will be well placed for tonight’s viewing.  We should get some great views along the terminator, that line between light and dark.  Along that line, mountains and craters really stand out.

Mars will be high in the sky, less than a degree from M35 in Gemini. Uranus and Venus are very close to each other in the west.  Jupiter will be setting right as the session starts and Mercury will be visible for less than an hour into the session.  Neptune and Saturn are below the horizon

Having the Pleiades, the Hyades, Mars, Venus, Mercury and Uranus all in the west might make for some nice photos of the night sky.  Bring your camera!

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 planetarium program will be presented instead.