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, September 11, 2026
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
The Moon is in a very young waxing crescent phase and will not be visible during our session tonight. As a result we should be able to take a good look at some of the dimmer objects without interference from Moonlight,
Venus will set half an hour after our session starts at 8pm, so get there early to catch a glimpse through the scope. It will be our first target of the night. It is in a crescent phase so it should make for a terrific view at high power. As Venus sets, Saturn will be rising in the East. We will have the rest of the session to view the ringed planet, so we might wait until it gets a little higher in the sky before shifting the telescope that direction. We will look for several of Saturn’s moons including its largest moon, Titan. Blue Neptune will be a little higher than Saturn, so we might take a look at that first. We won’t see detail because it isn't very bright, but we can see the color. The other bright planets are all below the horizon.
Late summer is an excellent time to view many Messier objects in the Sagittarius and Scorpius regions. On this evening in particular, they are due south, right on the meridian. We will look at some open clusters such as M8, M7 and M6 and some globular clusters like M3, M22 and M4.
Globular cluster M13 in Hercules will be visible, as is one of the brightest globular clusters called M15. The famous Double Cluster will also be available. Because of the dimmer skies, we will make an attempt to see our nearest neighbor galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy. Overhead is the summer asterism of the Summer triangle which comprises the brighter stars Vega, Deneb and Altair (of Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila respectively).
Some stars we will focus on include Epsion Lyrae, the famous Double Double in Lyra, the beautiful double star Albireo in Cygnus, the double stars Alcor and Mizar in the handle of the Big Dipper and Antares in Scorpius.
Come spend the evening viewing the cosmos with your family, residents and non-residents are 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!
Night Sky News
Here's some info about what's going on in the sky.
