Possibly one of the best kept secrets in St. Charles,
Missouri, is the astronomy park that is located in Brommelsiek Park and is overseen
by a local astronomy group called Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri
(ASEM). The observing area of the park
has concrete pads where you can set up a telescope, including plugs if you need
to plug in a tracker system or computer.
There is also a shed at one end of the pads that contains one of the
ASEM telescopes that are used during public viewing.
Every Friday night when the weather cooperates, ASEM hosts
an Open House at the park, with experienced astronomers operating the large telescope
and often many smaller scopes on various pads that the public may access to
view whatever astronomical wonder is visible at the time. Anyone can come out, with zero experience, or
a master’s degree in astronomy and enjoy the evening of viewing. This is all free. And there are toilet facilities on site, so fear not.
Also free are the monthly meetings. Every month ASEM meets on the second Saturday generally at the Weldon SpringsInterpretive center meeting room off Hwy 94 just south of Hwy 40. This is a bit easier to find than the Park,
but they are both worth the effort. At
the meeting, there is a pot luck at 6 pm followed by a member meeting full of information and sometimes special speakers.
If you want to join their group, there is a small annual fee. With that fee, you are given access to all of
the club equipment which includes many cameras, binoculars, and
telescopes. You are also given access
after training to the larger scope at the park.
And you will also receive a quarterly newsletter called The
Reflector. You also get space to do a
member website, and membership in the Astronomical League. This is an abbreviated list of all of the
wonderful things you get with membership.
You can see the full list on the ASEM membership site.
So whether you want to sit back and have a picnic while
watching the moon rise, or you want to use a computer mounted telescope to
discover new asteroids, this is the place for you. So if you live in the area, or if you are
planning a visit nearby, plan your stay and check it out. It’s a great group to get involved with and
you can do as little or as much as you want.
Hope to see you there!
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