Program Overview

Amateur Astronomy Courses

The Amateur Astronomy Courses are a series of one-day classes designed to instruct participants in the use of personal telescopes or binoculars, or the basics of the unaided-eye Baton Rouge sky.

Course Schedule

The courses are held on Saturdays from 3:30pm to 7:30pm CST. The schedule for the 2025 courses is as follows:

• 20 December: Learn Your Sky
• 10 January: Learn Your Binocular
• 24 January: Learn Your Telescope

Course Details

Learn Your Sky

This course is an introduction to the unaided-eye Baton Rouge sky. Participants will learn about:

• major stars and constellations in Baton Rouge
• major lunar features and how to find them
• basic skygazing terminology
• how to distinguish planets from stars
• what meteors, conjunctions, and "visible passes" are, and how to see them
• major unaided-eye features of our Milky Way Galaxy
• solar viewing safety, and how to view the Sun without store-bought equipment
• how to darken the sky from your home
• upcoming unaided-eye events
• benefits of belonging to an astronomy club
• actual practice identifying stars, asterisms, and constellations (weather permitting) The course is limited to 30 registrants, and all registrants must be over 18 years old.

Learn Your Binocular

This course is a hands-on introduction to the operations of personal binoculars. Participants will learn about:

• how to operate your binocular
• how to care for your binocular
• major binocular features in the Baton Rouge sky, and how to find them
• how to darken the sky from your home
• upcoming binocular events
• actual practice aiming and focusing on celestial objects (weather permitting) The course is limited to 20 households, with a limit of one binocular per household.

Learn Your Telescope

This course is a hands-on introduction to the operations of personal telescopes. Participants will learn about:

• how to set up your telescope
• how to care for your telescope
• major telescopic features in the Baton Rouge sky, and how to find them
• how to darken the sky from your home
• upcoming telescopic events
• actual practice aiming and focusing on celestial objects (weather permitting) The course is limited to 10 households, with a limit of one telescope per household. Up to four household members over the age of 8 are encouraged to attend, though the registrant for this course must be over 18.

Admission Criteria and Tuition Fees

• The courses are open to participants 18 years and older.
• Tuition fees are $15 per in-parish registrant and $18 per out-of-parish registrant.