Visiting schools providing educational outreach is something we do for much of the school term at Kielder Observatory, and we are always blown away by the enthusiasm and passion kids have for space-related subjects. Our Young Explorers event is designed to build on that passion of your young scientists and help encourage further learning by feeding their excitement for everything space related. Throughout this event you and your family will be guided around our astronomical ark and discover our large aperture robotic telescopes, learn about how they work and why we use them, if weather permits you will even get to observe brighter objects through them. You will be introduced to a digital guide of our night sky, learning constellations and why we use them, you can even continue that learning from home witih a free piece of software for your computer. Then we will get hands on and discover pieces of our solar system, some of which originate from its very creation, as we introduce you to our collection of meteorites, you'll even get to stand on a piece of Mars, and tickle a piece of the Moon! At the end of the event you will have time to grab a drink and peruse our gift shop, wander around the facilites, grab a selfie and ask any questions from our team of astronomers. Young Explorers is aimed at all ages from 7 years upwards, with plenty to enjoy for those at secondary school age too! So join us for an event geared around a tour of the UK's largest public stargazing facility, with fun and inspirational activities along the way and we will take you on a journey of observation, navigation and creation. Please be aware all children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, all of whom must have a ticket....

Tickets

From £20.00 per person

Next available event

Saturday 26th April

Take home the ultimate souvenir of knowledge from Kielder Observatory by learning how award winning astrophotographers take images of the night sky. Modern day digital cameras have resulted in an explosion of popularity for night sky photography. By turning our lenses towards the night sky, we have helped our visitors realise just how capable they can be when shooting into darkness. To start the night, our friendly team of astronomers will deliver a talk, suitable for beginners through to professionals, and will provide the top tips required in order to capture stunning nightscapes of the Milky Way, Aurora Borealis, startrails and more. Furthermore, being situated in the heart of the Northumberland and Kielder Water’s Gold Tier Dark Sky Park, Kielder Observatory is the ideal destination for budding astrophotographers to learn, experiment and achieve quality results with their cameras. Weather permitting, the evening will include informal practical photography sessions, use of Kielder Observatory telescopes to observe the night sky, and then it’ll be time to warm up with a generous dose of our famous hot chocolate, tea or coffee, included in the price. The event will be heavily based on landscape astrophotography. We’d highly recommend you bring a DSLR or mirrorless camera, a wide-angle lens and a tripod. It’s even possible to capture the stars using the camera on modern smartphones, so we could give that a try! Oh… And don’t forget to charge your batteries! You will also have the opportunity to support our charity further by taking home a memento of your visit from our gift shop. ...

Tickets

From £35.00 per person

Next available event

Sunday 27th April

Our most popular event... the Northern Lights! What are they? How do we see them? The Aurora Borealis have influenced fairy tales and folklore for millennia, shaped communities and religious beliefs, provided civilisations with incredible stories of gallant valour and past spirits. The theme of the presentation this evening will integrate the Aurora and the fascinating scientific facts that explain it. We will explore how science has studied and discovered the processes that create the beautiful dancing Northern Lights. Learn about the incredible energy that the sun releases second by second and how this energy interacts with the Earth’s atmosphere to give us a light show like no other. Tonight you will learn not only the science behind the Aurora but also the best locations to try to spot them, so when your event is over you will be proficient in knowing when and where to look for these legendary dancing lights on the special nights they visit the UK. The Aurora is an elusive and rare phenomenon as far south as England so we can't tell you when it will be visible from the observatory, but we do get a great view from our dark position on top of Black Fell for those guests who are lucky enough to be visiting us when they appear in our skies!  And if you do miss them, we'll tell you everything you need to know about how to track them down in the future. During the event you will enjoy a tour of the Observatory, see the telescopes and meet our team of passionate astronomers. The team will be on hand to answer all your questions and to help you use our telescopes to observe a range of objects including, craters on the moon, distant galaxies, nebulae or star clusters depending on weather conditions. You can also join us on our observation deck and gaze at the dark skies and maybe even the Milky Way, all from one of Europe's darkest locations. During the lighter summer nights we lose the darkness so we turn our attention to the brighter objects that are visible, such as craters on the moon, star clusters and atmospheric phenomena like night shining clouds, known as noctilucent clouds. Although star-gazing is the priority on all our events, we can only observe during clear skies, so our aim is to deliver a fantastic experience whatever the weather with the help of our team of experienced and passionate astronomers....

Tickets

From £28.50 per person

Next available event

Monday 28th April