Visit to Kielder Observatory in Northumberland was an out of this world experience

Kielder Observatory is a public outreach astronomical facility located in some of the darkest skies in Europe and the third largest protected Dark Sky reserve in the world.

It runs about 700 public events each year and I recently went along to one of its main evening events, which run for about three hours, along with some of my family.

We all enjoyed a tour of the observatory, having a look at various stars and planets through its powerful telescopes, and a presentation about the aurora borealis.

This included top tips to help see the aurora at opportune times, not just going to darker areas as other important factors include the time of year, the lunar cycle and checking what is known as the Kp index.

Education is an important aspect of Kielder Observatory’s offering, with sessions for visiting schools suitable for all ages ranging from Key Stage 1 up to A-level.

At the time of my visit, a planetary parade was making headlines around the world. This is where more planets than usual appear in the same region of the sky.

After her aurora borealis presentation, I spoke with Ellie Macdonald, science communication and science lead, who has been working at the observatory for five-and-a-half years.

She said: “Some nights we don’t know for sure which way it’s going to go with the sky, so it’s lovely when it ends up being a clear night and people coming along can see stars and planets from our telescopes.

“It’s great that the planetary parade has captured people’s attention, although we have been putting the message across that it has been there for the last month or so – very few astronomical phenomenon are one-offs.

“We enjoy delivering the education sessions because the children are generally enthusiastic and eager to learn about space.”

She also highlighted a lunar eclipse (March 14, best time 5am to 6.30am) and a partial solar eclipse (March 29, about 40%, best time 10.30am to 11.30am, wear special glasses or use a pinhole camera) coming up later this month.

For more information about the observatory, go to https://kielderobservatory.org