There’s no better place to watch the stars in the UK than from one of our gorgeous national parks. From the South Downs to Exmoor to Bannau Brycheiniog, those vast stretches of wilderness have minimal light pollution or obstruction from towering buildings, meaning they allow the best glimpse of the cosmos in all its shining glory. And this year, visitors to one national park got to see our night sky in even more brilliant detail.
Back in May, the Lake District got its very first public observatory and planetarium. Grizedale Observatory and Planetarium opened in the tiny hamlet of Grizedale in partnership with Forestry England with a vision to inspire a ‘deeper connection to the universe’ and to offer a safe and comfortable environment from which to explore the night sky.
It features a state-of-the-art 20-capacity planetarium, a collection of eight inch Dobsonian telescopes, two 16 inch large aperture telescopes and one fully robotic telescope that lives in the dome of the building and is connected to TV screens inside.
Open from Wednesday to Saturday, during the day visitors can explore the solar system with the planetarium’s programme of shows, which cover everything from human space missions to the deep history of the universe. In the evening, you can tag along to one of the stargazing events guided by night sky experts (hot chocolate included).
As well as looking up at the stars, visitors can look down at the venue’s collection of meteorites that have fallen to Earth from space, including one that is an actual piece of the moon. If that all sounds right up your street, you can book a visit to Grizedale Observatory here.
See Time Out’s guide to the UK’s best places for stargazing here.
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