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, October 25, 2024

7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

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

Information hotline: 314-213-8034

The Moon will be in a waning crescent phase and will not be visible this evening.

Jupiter and Saturn will be visible in the south and southeast.  All four of the Galilean Moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto will be visible when Jupiter rises very late in the session, after 8:30pm.  We should also be able to see Saturn’s moon Titan.  Neptune and Uranus will be visible as well, especially since the Moon will not interfere with these dimmer objects.

The rich area around Scorpius and Sagittarius will be visible in the early evening.  Open clusters, nebulae and globular clusters will be some of the targets in the area.  Taurus and Auriga are rising in the East and the Pleiades are visible.  We will use the wide view telescope to view the Pleiades as it doesn’t fit in our large telescope:  It’s too big!

The asterism called the Coathanger will be one of our targets for this evening.  It is found between Vega and Altair.   While we are in the area, we will look at the Double Double star system in Lyra, Albireo in Cygnus and M57 or the Ring Nebula in Lyra.  M13, the globular cluster in Hercules will also be a target for the evening.  We will also try for M5 and M3 before they set in the west.

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 so come on up!  .

Next Session:  See the list below!