Kielder Observatory - A magical & unique visitor attraction

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Travel through the cosmos as we bring the wonder of the dark skies to you with our inflatable planetarium. Perfect for a group setting, our astronomers will guide you across the universe with these impressive shows

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From meteorites to space exploration, planets to satellites and everything in between, our astronomer-lead workshops are the perfect way to engage with science and astronomy for schools and community groups. With practical hand-on learning, guided by an expert astronomer there is no better way to get to grips with astronomy

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Your Gateway to the Universe

Kielder Observatory is one of the most remarkable places to visit in the UK—a public astronomical observatory and educational charity offering something truly special for everyone.

Visit us and discover wonders beyond imagination, all set beneath the breathtaking skies of Europe’s largest Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park. Whether you’re a first-time stargazer or a seasoned astronomer, our much-loved team promises an unforgettable experience.

Last Minute Events

Looking to visit as soon as possible? Check out our events with last minute availability below.

Astro Photography

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

Only 4 tickets left!

Aurora Night

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

Only 4 tickets left!

Our Celestial Neighbourhood

The planets, our celestial neighbours, and a wonderment of eons. First observed as wandering stars in the night sky, these objects were discovered to be more than just points of light when humans started to learn more about our Universe from as recent as the 1600s. Since then, our understanding and resolution of our place in the cosmos has grown to unfathomable levels. With ground-based telescopes we gazed at these mysterious worlds from a distance, what are they like? Is there life living upon their surface? Questions which inspired the birth of Sci-Fi novels, movies, and plays, and even inspired musical arrangements. On leaving our planet in the 20th Century with space-based instruments, our understand of these other worlds grew more and more as it still does today, as we uncover more of their hidden mysteries. Join us as we discover the Universe on our doorstep, our 7 celestial neighbours, it’s dominating stellar centre, and the hidden worlds and objects which meander amongst them. During the evening we will guide you through the observatory, introduce you to the large aperture telescopes and give you guidance on how to use them. If the skies are clear, we will dive deep into our skies with our instruments and discover objects which are beyond the realms of what the naked eye can see, and which have shaped our understanding of the universe! You will also be treated to a hot drink of either tea, coffee or our famous hot chocolate as well as having the opportunity to support our charity further by taking home a memento of your visit to the observatory from our gift shop. In the summer months 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 stargazing is the priority on all our events, our aim is to deliver a fantastic experience whatever the weather with the help of our team of experienced and passionate astronomers, backed up with digital observation software and apparatus that helps you visualise how our instruments work, and how to navigate the sky yourself. ...

Tickets

From £28.50 per person

Next available event

Tuesday 29th April

Reviews & Testimonials

Our reviews are out of this world...

Such a wonderful place. I went on my birthday for Late Night Discovery and had a great time. The team are so knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We viewed Saturn, Jupiter, a dying star, loads of constellations like the Seven Sisters and...

Kate Brennan 7 months ago

Attended the Late Night Discovery event. Didn’t really know what to expect; it was absolutely fantastic! The team are so passionate and enthusiastic about imparting their abundance of knowledge, it really is captivating!

Jason Grant 6 months ago

We had a walk up and were invited to tour the observatory. The staff are very passionate and very informative, we got to see sun spots through the telescope.

Bill Thorkildsen 6 months ago

Loved this experience. Drive up lane is interesting in dark but fine. Staff brilliant, make great hot chocolate. Was lucky we had clear skies after the previous few days.

Dawn Wright 4 months ago

Registered Charity No 1153570

Donate to Kielder Observatory

Kielder Observatory is a charity that exists to inspire, enthuse and educate the public about the wonders of the universe. Donating to us will help us reach more people and support their interest in astronomy. Your gift will help fund our work in schools, in the arts, our citizen science projects, getting out and about in the community and, of course, the work we do at the Observatory itself.

Latest News

Lots of exciting things are happening at Kielder Observatory, use this page to browse the latest stories.

What's Up? May 2025

As the summer nights grow shorter and lighter, May still has plenty to offer skywatchers. Explore, with our astronomer Ishbel,...

Read Time

4 minutes

Are Aliens Real?

Is anybody else out there? In this month's Ask An Astronomer, Science communicator and Astronomer James Claxton looks at one...

Read Time

10 minutes

What's Up? April 2025

After a very astronomically eventful March, we move swiftly into April meaning Spring is well and truly underway bringing with...

Read Time

5 minutes

Photography Prints

Purchase some of the incredible photographs taken from Kielder Observatory.

Andromeda Mounted Print

This picture was taken in the late Autumn of 2014, taken through the telescope with a DSLR camera....

£25.00

A clear night sky showcasing the Milky Way galaxy with vibrant stars and a bright planet, set above a modern building illuminated with red lighting.

Galactic Centre Rising

The galactic centre rising behind Kielder Observatory...

£25.00

Lunar Eclipse

The lunar eclipse on 21st January 2019 was an unforgettable sight. The whole observatory team stayed up until 6am to capture images of this amazing cosmic coincidence. A lunar eclipse is when the Earth is perfectly lined up in between the Sun and Moon. Earth’s shadow sweeps across the lunar surfaces causing the Moon to turn blood red....

£25.00

Winter Startrails

This was taken on a moonlit night to keep the observatory illuminated, the image is created by stacking a number of shots taken over a long period of time. This was shot using a 14mm lens, with 25 second exposures for 30 minutes. We can see how the stars appear to trail around one central point, our North Star (Polaris), as the Earth spins on its axis and Polaris stays still in its position directly above the North Pole....

£25.00

Colourful Startrails

The clearest of skies allow for this amazing 'star trails' image, the rotating earth allows for these beautiful shapes and patterns to develop. Our eyes can never see the passage of time like this but the camera can....

£25.00

Looking for something a little different?