Kielder Observatory Today

Kielder Observatory is an educational outreach charity situated within one of the largest International Dark Sky Parks in Europe.

We are one of the largest outreach observatories for astronomy and physics in the UK and each year, more than 20,000 members of the public visit the observatory to learn about space and astronomy, and to make use of our facilities to explore the night sky.

We have a range of specialist telescopes, including solar telescopes for daytime observing during the summer months. At night though, we have both refracting and reflecting telescopes ranging from 3" aperture all the way up to 16" behemoths capable of showing visitors the planets, nebulae, distant galaxies and much more. The telescopes themselves sit in concrete pillars which go down in to the bedrock below the observatory, maintaining outstanding levels of stability. Some are computer controlled, allowing visitors young and old the  thrill of "driving" a telescope around the skies from the click of a mouse.

In April 2018, to add to the main observatory, the Gillian Dickinson Astro-Imaging Academy was opened on site. This building provides an additional warm room, separate kitchen area and even more telescopes – along with a dedicated control room to manoeuvre them. The equipment in here is used solely for astrophotography. Sensitive CCD cameras attached to these high quality instruments allows us to capture the wonders of the cosmos under our incredibly dark skies.

In addition to the observatory itself, events and activities regularly take place in the wider community. The largest part of this is our rapidly expanding schools programme. A current project within the North of Tyne Combined Authority will see around 10,000 pupils each year, over the next 3 years, experiencing engaging educational sessions delivered by our experienced astronomers. This engagement involves making use of our inflatable planetarium to bring Kielder’s dark skies into school halls, along with workshops orientated around our unique resources and expertise - such as our meteorite collection. 

We look forward to seeing you very soon at one of our amazing events.