Night Sky & Telescope Viewing

The Night Sky & Telescope show is the first session of the evening.
It is only for people 5 years of age and older. Children under 5 years of age are not permitted.
The session consists of

1: An Astronomy Presentation (usually outdoors under the stars)

2: Point out the Stars, Planets, and Constellations with a laser pointer.

3: Look through telescopes at the stars, planets, and galaxies. You may have to take 1 or 2 steps on a step ladder. If the sky is overcast and we cannot show you any object through the telescopes, we do an extended astronomy presentation indoors instead and issue a 50% refund at the end of the session.

4: Answer your astronomy questions.

5: Take one photo through the telescope with your Canon or Nikon DSLR camera. Alternatively bring your SD card that fits our Canon RA mirrorless camera. We sell SD cards in our gift shop if you don't have the right camera. We also sell photos of the objects we see.

Session lasts for a minimum of 60 minutes and may drift up to 75 minutes.

The session is outdoors.

Group size is a maximum of 50 people.

If you prefer a smaller group size, please consider the Premium Session which has a maximum of 6 people.

The best nights are the clear and moonless nights.

What objects we show depends on the time of year, time of night, what phase the Moon is, and where the Moon is in the sky.

There is a list of objects at the bottom of this page of what is in the sky for that session.
How many objects we show depends on the amount of cloud cover and how bright the moon is. The clearer the night the more objects we see. Galaxies and nebulae are usually not visible when the Moon is up. We show you as many objects as we can in that list in the time given.
Planets are not always around, sometimes there are a few, sometimes none, and this is different every year, so check that list at the bottom of the page.

To view through a telescope you need to be able to stand and sometimes take a step or two up a ladder. If you are confined to a wheelchair we can let you use a pair of binoculars, just ask at the desk on arrival.

The show is outdoors so you need to dress appropriate to the weather conditions. It is very cold in the Autumn and Winter months so you need to rug up and we recommend you wear a beanie and scarf as well. We can't use heaters around the telescopes as it blurs the image you see.

If you are bringing a DSLR Camera for a photo through the telescope On moonless nights we take a photo of a colourful nebula. If the Moon is visible, we take a photo of the Moon is taken instead as the moonlight adversely affects photographing nebulae. Planets dont photograph well with DSLR cameras.

If it is cloudy we may not be able to take a photo.
We use your camera body and attach an adapter. So you must be able to be able to remove the lens. We have adapters for Canon & Nikon DSLR cameras. Some other brands may work but can't guarantee. You must know how to change the settings on your camera. If you don't we may run out of time to take a photo.