Stargazers need no longer look to the heavens in search of way to share their passion, the EIU Astronomy Club is here right on Earth.

The club allows everyone from amateur observers to future astronomers the opportunity to share “anything that is interesting about the sky,” Dan Brown, sophomore physics major and club president, said Monday.

Weather permitting the group goes out to look at the stars whenever possible, Brown said. Right now, Jupiter and Saturn are up, and the group got some good observation at its last meeting, he said.

Other club activities include movie nights, such as Star Wars or PBS specials, Brown said. The club hopes to show one of the Star Wars movies sometime in the next month, he said.

They also have discussions on different topics in astronomy, Brown said.

“We have very detailed philosophical discussions about astronomy,” he said, including cosmology, which is the study of the state of the universe, and religion.

“It’s a very informal group,” he said.

He said the discussions are usually very good, but would be better with more participants.

Presentations are given from time to time, usually from members who choose a topic to present, Brown said, but if they can get a speaker, they will.

About six or seven people regularly attend meetings and another 30 are on the list, Brown said. Meetings are at 9 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday each month in room 2437 of the Physical Science Building, unless otherwise noted.

No requirements exist for membership and the club is “very very free,” Brown emphasized.

Participants need not have any experience or be in an astronomy class, and all majors are evenly represented, Brown said. Students also do not need to be good at math and physics to study astronomy, because there are other ways to improve one’s knowledge of the subject.

The group will take part in construction of the new observatory being built on campus when it gets to a point where they can help, Brown said. Unfortunately, it is unknown at this point when the project will be complete, he said.

“We plan to help with the construction of the observatory in any way that we can,” Brown said.