Astronomy and Stargazing

The event will begin with a personal welcome from our astronomer, Gary Fildes. Gary is a very experienced science communicator and astronomer, and founder of the Kielder Observatory, where he was Director and CEO for over 11 years.

After the welcome, Gary and the team will escort you into our new state of the art classroom, which has a cosy feel, and high definition (HD) projection system. Gary will take you on a whistle stop tour of the Universe. Following this, we will split into groups and, weather depending, start observing the sky, with our array of telescopes and cameras.

• have you ever looked up at the night time sky and wondered why you can’t see anything other than stars?
• or have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered how far it is to the stars that you can see?
• do you want to know what a star is, how a telescope works, or even where it all came from?

If your answered yes to any of these questions, then you have come to the right place – Grassholme Observatory’s introduction evenings will cover all things astronomy!

Bring the kids, bring your granny, this will appeal to everyone. Tonight, we will cover details that will amaze, inform, thrill, and engage you – then it’s off to the telescopes for the chance to observe the sky, through some seriously powerful pieces of equipment. We will use cameras to take pictures of what we see, as we gaze at the stars overhead.

From the middle of June, to mid July, the skies brighten, as the summer sun rises earlier, and sets later. Although brighter, these skies also have planets and other bright objects visible, and are equally as beautiful, as the inky dark evenings of later in the year, although less stars are visible.

After the observing ends, it’s back inside for a hot drink and a chat, before you head off home!

Terms and conditions of booking

1. Safety is our first priority – you must adhere to all instructions of the team leading the astronomy session and You must not do anything to compromise the health and safety of yourself or others and must report any concerns or risks to the onsite team immediately. Should you put yourself or others at risk this may mean that you are politely asked to leave the site.
2. Your booking is non-refundable. Should we cancel the event for any reason we will however make a full refund or give the option of a transfer to another date. If you are unable to undertake dark sky observing because of cloud cover then we will offer you a 20% discount on a future booking made and taken within 8 weeks of the event.
3. You should bring appropriate clothing to keep you warm.
4. You should arrive at Grassholme no later than 15 minutes before the start of your session.
5. Grassholme is set within the quiet upper Tees Valley and we ask that you drive safely and do not disturb residents with loud music, or other disturbance late at night.
6. You should not do anything to disturb or destroy the visitor experience for other attendees and failure to do so may mean that you are politely asked to leave the site.

By booking this event you are signing up to these terms and conditions.