Kielder Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, within one of largest International Dark Sky Parks in Europe. It is powered by solar panels and a wind turbine, and is administered by the Kielder Observatory Astronomical society, which is a charity. There are 10 permanent members of educational staff who run public educational events at the observatory, and in schools in the surrounding area. Kielder had hosted 'Star Camps' for several years before the observatory was built, which was officially opened on 25th April 2008, by Sir Arnold Wolfendale, the 14th Royal Astronomer. In 2018, the Gillian Dickinson Astro-Imaging Academy was opened on site, and recently in 2021, a 5m (16ft) Radio2Space Radio Antenna was donated by the Tanlaw Foundation to educate the public on Radio Astronomy.
This observatory was an incredible place to visit, as we got to make use of the many large telescopes, and learn about the area. We went to an aurora based viewing, but there was many focuses aside from this. They started by giving us a very interesting talk about the observatory, and the aurora, before taking us around the observatory. At the end, they gave us a while to explore ourselves and to use the telescopes to see what we wanted to. I really enjoyed the whole experience. However, it may have been better to visit in the winter, as we were there close to the longest day, so it was never fully dark whilst we were there. Aside from this, everything about the observatory was extremely interesting.
On the drive up to the observatory, they had spaced planet boards full of facts, as if the observatory was the sun, and the boards were the correct proportional distance away.
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