Peoria Astronomical Society

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Peoria Astronomical Society

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We are a non profit organization promoting the science of astronomy in Peoria, Illinois.

10/28/2026

Keep looking up for November.

10/22/2026

The Fall 2026 version of our Starlite Newsletter is now available on our website: http://www.astronomical.org/newsletterarchive.php

The Starlite is our quarterly newsletter publication. (PDF is best viewed @ 100% zoom or more)

Contained in any Starlite, you will find important dates coming up, and what the society has to offer to its members and the public.

Thanks to all contributors to the Starlite, and please feel free to contact us on Facebook messenger if you have any questions.

Clear skies,
----------------------
Jesse Hoover
Peoria Astronomical Society

Send a message to learn more

10/18/2026

Our 2026 public viewing season ended Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. But Northmoor Observatory will be open for public viewing in mid-May 2027. See you then!

Photo courtesy of PAS member Jake Schultz.

10/18/2026

Autumn chill was in the air, but the skies were clear and we had a good turnout yesterday evening (10-17) for our last Saturday of public viewing for the season at Northmoor Observatory. We'll be back in May 2027!

Photos are images from our seestar s50 smart telescope, which allows us to view deep sky objects in spite of the light pollution at Northmoor.

Viewed last night: M8, the Lagoon Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius; M31, the Andromeda Galaxy in the constellation Andromeda (with its satellite galaxy M110 in the upper left); the Pacman Nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia; M33, the Triangulum galaxy in the constellation Triangulum; M13, the Great Globular Cluster in the constellation Hercules; and M45, the Pleiades.

10/11/2026

Great night at Northmoor yesterday! It was cloudy at first, but the sky cleared up quite a bit as the night went on.

In addition to Saturn, our "headliner" and the big draw for the evening, we viewed the Andromeda Galaxy and the Pleiades, with a "guest appearance" by the planet Uranus, which was visible as a pale blue dot through the big telescope. Thanks to our volunteers, Nick Rae & Joshua Wrigley!

The photo of the planet Uranus below was taken through the telescope eyepiece. Photo courtesy of PAS member Joshua Wrigley.

10/09/2026

Photos from last Friday's (10-2-2026) star party with Roanoke Benson high school students at our Jubilee observatory. Great group, and they picked the perfect night for it -- clear skies and fantastic viewing!

Photos courtesy of PAS member, Vincent Allen.

10/05/2026

Did you know? Before the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum was constructed, there was a planetarium at the (now closed) Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, which was completed in 1963.

According to the Peoria Academy of Science, this was due to the efforts of the Peoria Astronomical Society. In particular, Rollin Van Zandt was instrumental in getting donations of money and labor, and in assembling the equipment, and Dr. Ernest Landen gave much of his time and knowledge throughout the years to develop and build special projectors and to assure trouble-free operation.

The speaker in the video is Robert I. Johnson, who served as Director of the Adler Planetarium from 1960-1966.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOYHLahQx2M

The Lakeview Planetarium opened on June 9, 1963 in Peoria, Illinois...

10/04/2026

Don’t miss our next PAS meeting! This Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 7:00 p.m., Tyler Ferree, an archaeologist at the Western Illinois Field Station of the Illinois Archaeological Survey, will join us via Zoom to talk about "Mississippian Archaeoastronomy: Exploring Alignments to the Moon and other Celestial Bodies at Mississippian Period sites in Illinois."

The meeting will be held in the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, and as always, is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the museum garage. Hope to see you there!

10/03/2026

Only three more Saturdays in our public viewing season at Northmoor Observatory: Oct. 3 (tonight), Oct. 10, and Oct. 17!

This means it's time to see Saturn through the big telescope in the dome! You might be able to see a few of Saturn's moons as well.

On October 4, Saturn will be at opposition: the planet will be (1) at its closest to earth, which makes it look brighter, and (2) visible almost all night - rising at sunset and setting at around sunrise.

The photo of Saturn below was taken by PAS member, James Dire. 🙂

10/03/2026

October sky map!

Address

PO Box 10111
Peoria, IL
61612

Website

https://astronomical.org/

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