Jefferson College has scheduled the rest of this year’s monthly “Aim for the Stars” events to be held at its observatory, as well as a special gathering Oct. 14 to view an annular eclipse.
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth and while its at or near its farthest point from Earth, it appears smaller than the sun and does not completely cover it.
All the Aim for the Stars activities are free and open to the public and will be held near the college’s softball field on Farm Road in Hillsboro. The softball field and observatory are north of the college’s Hillsboro campus.
Jefferson College partners with the St. Louis Astronomical Society (SLAS) to hold the educational stargazing events, weather permitting.
The events begin at sunset on the first Sunday of each month, as long as the weather cooperates. The remaining 2023 events will be on Aug. 6, Sept. 3, Oct. 1, Nov. 5 and Dec. 2.
The Oct. 14 special event for the annular eclipse starts at 10:31 a.m. and ends at 1:27 p.m. It also is free and open to the public.
Aim for the Stars nights offer people the chance to use a 16-inch telescope to view the planets and stars. Attendees also are encouraged to bring their own telescopes and binoculars.
In addition, college and SLAS representatives are on hand to provide information about a variety of topics, like plans for continued development of the observatory area; instructions for reading a star map and using telescopes and binoculars; and previews of upcoming astronomy events.
Maryanne Angliongto, Jefferson College dean of math, physics and technology, said the annular eclipse will not completely black out the sun and will look like there’s a ring around the moon.
“It will still be exciting, but not as dramatic as the total eclipse of 2017,” she said.
Angliongto said a total eclipse is coming on April 8, 2024, but Jefferson County is not in its path like it was for the 2017 eclipse, when people from around the country came to the area to view it.
“We’re not in the path like 2017, but there will be a 99-percent eclipse here,” she said.
Work to prepare the site for the observatory began in 2019, and the college and SLAS held an official dedication ceremony for the observatory site Sept. 12, 2021.
COVID-19 pandemic slowed its progress, but college and SLAS representatives at the events will give overviews of plans for the observatory area.
The group plans to purchase a solar telescope and some imaging equipment, Angliongto said. “We will also be improving signage to the observatory and softball fields,” she said. “Long term, we plan to have two classroom spaces with additional telescopes and bathrooms at the site.”
For more information, contact Angliongto at 636-481-3318 or email her at manglion@jeffco.edu or visit the Jefferson College Observatory Facebook page.