Observatory
The Pattonville School District is home to its own planetarium and observatory.
The observatory, located at Pattonville Heights Middle School, is the first school or college in Missouri to have a planetarium/observatory facility located in one of its buildings. Throughout the school year, the district hosts regular viewing sessions of the night sky. For dates and the upcoming areas of focus in the sky, see below.
W h a t : The Pattonville Observatory has an 10-inch Schmidt-Cassgrain telescope which can be used to view planets, stars, nebulae, galaxies and globular clusters.
Where: The white dome atop Pattonville Heights Middle School located at 195 Fee Fee Rd., Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Please enter the door directly below the white dome on the roof of the building just to the right of the gym. ( Click for a Map)
When: Approximately two Fridays every month during the school year in the early evening after sunset.
Cost: Totally and completely Free!!
Observatory and Planetarium
Public Viewing Sessions
The observatory is located at Pattonville Heights Middle School, 195 Fee Fee Road. Access in the evening is next to the gym at the end of the parking lot using the door below the observatory dome. To find out more or hear up-to-date information, contact the information hotline at 314-213-8034.
Next Session:
Friday, December 5, 2025
7:00pm - 9:00pm
The Moon will be in a waning gibbous phase (nearly full). It will be visible the entire evening and being so close to full, will likely prevent us from viewing really dim objects. It will be a terrific view itself, though!
The planets that will be visible in our night sky will include Jupiter for the first time this season! And… we are in for a special treat!! At 8:36pm Jupiter’s moon Ganymede will appear from behind the planet (ending it’s occultation by Jupiter) THEN Io will eclipse Jupiter and will be in front of the planet at 8:37!! Callisto and Europa will be visible the entire time. This is a unique event and we are looking forward to witnessing it. Saturn will be visible along with at least it’s brightest moon, Titan. Plus, we will take a look at the blue gas-giants Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is visible, but is just too dim to be seen with our telescope under light polluted skies..
Taurus and Auriga are well placed in the East and the Pleiades will be a great site through the refractor mounted to the telescope. The open clusters in Auriga such as M36, M37 and M38 will make good targets. Open clusters are good to view in the city because they are brighter than some other objects such as galaxies. Orion will be rising, so we should get a good look at the great Orion Nebula or M42. We will magnify that view to see the four star group in the middle of the nebula called the Trapezium. Just below the Pleiades are the Hyades, another very large open group of stars. Gemini is also rising at the end of our session, so we might try a view of M35.
If we have time, we will look at the Double Double star system in Lyra, Albireo in Cygnus, M13, the globular cluster in Hercules, and M11, the Wild Duck Cluster. M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, our nearest neighbor will likely be too dim to view because of the bright Moon. but we will look at the Double Cluster.
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 will be December 12th!
Night Sky News
Here's some info about what's going on in the sky.
