Dark Sky Discovery
Deep in the depths of the largest Dark Sky Park in Europe, taking place at the darkest part of the night, and at the darkest part of the month free from the light of the Moon, Dark Sky discovery has been our bestselling event for many years. When the skies are clear it presents the best opportunity for stargazing.
What will this event entail?
Guiding you through your astronomical discovery, we will impart knowledge and stories about what lays beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Touring you around our facilities team of enthused astronomers you introduce you to our state of the art instrumentation used for observing the night skies. You will also get hands on with our telescopes, virtually or in live settings when weather permits. Our astronomers are there to guide your journey into the stars beyond your visit whilst taking part in activities along the way, and of course the opportunity to stargaze in one of Europe’s best places to do so, should the weather permit.
Why is Kielder so great for stargazing?
In the heart of the Northumberland, Kielder Water and Forest Park is rated as the largest gold tier dark skies park in Europe, making it one of the best places to observe the stars in the UK. Being far away from big towns and cities, means that when weather permits, the sky can be awash with thousands of stars. When the skies are clear, using our large aperture robotic telescopes, we can reveal hidden objects which lay beyond our atmosphere and gaze deep into our cosmos.
What happens when it’s cloudy?
On nights where weather does not permit observations, we use technology to help you visualise how things may have otherwise been seen, using immersive instruments which simulate observing through a telescope, and large screen night sky navigation, pre-captured images and videos. You will also be entitled to a discount off a future booking.
What does my ticket price contribute towards?
Supporting these events helps us deliver our charitable objectives across all our science communication offers, including delivering workshops in Schools, working with vulnerable people, rehabilitation projects in prisons, and the rest of the work we deliver as a small team across not just the UK, but also the rest of the world. You as a contributor, visiting our events makes all this possible.
The ticket price for this event reflects the cost of hosting these bespoke events and, however as the evening goes, we will strive to give you a first-class experience at the UK's premier public observatory!
How will my event run?
***Please note this is a structure that is changeable depending on the conditions of the night and the weather forecast. Stargazing is treated as a priority throughout the event where conditions allow***
On arrival you will be guided down from the car park around 10 minutes prior to your event and welcomed into the main room where you will be seated with other guests for a welcome video and a short introduction talk from a member of the team.
After this you will be taken on a tour of the facilities in 3 groups and rotated to visit all 3 stations. If weather permits, you will partake in structured observing in our 3 observing locations. If weather does not permit stargazing the tours will consist of pre-captured footage viewed through our state-of-the-art digital telescope, night sky software simulations and constellation hunting, and an introduction to space rocks where you will get hands on with the raw ingredients of our solar system from outer space.
Hot drinks will be served during one of your tours during this event.
At the end of the night, you will have a small amount of free time to continue observations should weather permit, speak to our astronomers, and ask them questions, visit the gift shop, take selfies with the telescope or revisit any of the activities you have taken part in throughout the night.
As part of your ticket price, you will receive:
10% off in our gift shop
A free star map
20% discount voucher for a future booking if no observing can take place
Information and literature are available to take away with you which covers many of the topics covered throughout this event.
