Aurora Night

8pm – 11pm, various dates

Has it always been your dream to see the Northern Lights? At Grassholme Observatory, you’ve got the chance to finally make that dream a reality, (without forking out on a trip to Scandinavia).

Ever since humans first ventured to the polar regions and settled in frozen lands, folklore and fairy tales have echoed the icy, star-filled skies. Stories of valour and mythical lands filled wondering minds as they stared up at the Aurora Borealis.

Now’s your chance to unlock the scientific phenomena behind these ancient tales and – on certain nights, when conditions are right – see for yourself the magnificent Northern Lights in all their dancing colour from right here in the North East.

Tickets: from £15pp

Late Night Dark Skies

11.30pm – 2.30am, various dates 

Grassholme Observatory’s late-night events might just be our favourite star gazing experience. Why? Well, as the evening heads into the early hours, capacity is reduced to just 10 people – meaning it feels like you have the whole Observatory to yourself.

They also organise these events to correspond with there being no Moon visible, which means you have a sky as dark as can be to explore.

Expect a whistle-stop tour of the universe before diving right into exploring the brightest of planets and stars using Grassholme Observatory’s state-of-the-art telescopes and cameras. You’ll hunt out some of the real treasures of the Milky Way, like its Nebulae (glowing clouds of gas) and star clusters, which dazzle like diamonds against the velvet sky.

Tickets: from £25pp

The Lunar Cycle

Many visitors to any observatory will want to see the sky as dark as possible, so they’re able to see objects like the Milky Way, star clusters, planets and the myriad of constellations above us.

But it’s not as simple as just waiting for the sun to set.

The Moon takes roughly a month to wax and wane – or, in other words, go from a full Moon to disappearing completely and back again. That means that every 29.5 days, there’s a full Moon in the sky.

During these times, the night sky is at its brightest, meaning the fewest stars are visible.

But on the 14^th day either side of that period, the Moon is what is known as a ‘New Moon’, meaning it’s not visible to us here because it’s too close to the Sun. This is when the sky is at its darkest – making the sky perfect for star gazing.

Time of Year

The time of year you visit Grassholme Observatory will also have an impact on what you’ll see through the telescope.

The long, clear, cold nights of winter are the best time to see stars. From November through to the end of February, the winter Milky Way is visible stretching across the sky and sailing past the huge constellation Orion.

Of course, we’re also more likely to experience adverse weather conditions in winter, but on a clear night the heavens can be sublime. Be sure to wrap up warm, although the cosy observation room at Grassholme Observatory has freshly ground coffee and warm radiators, so you can stay nice and snug.

Heading towards spring from March until the end of May will be when we can start to see constellations such as Leo and Coma rise, where galaxies also reside.

As we reach summer, from June through to mid-August, our balmy evenings mean the planets sit higher on the southern horizon and any darkness we had succumbs to a perpetual twilight. The Milky Way fades to a faint blue so, while you may see the famed noctilucent clouds during these months, they’re not the best for star gazing.

Hope returns for aspiring astronomers by the end of August through to November, though, as autumn is often viewed as being the prime time for a star gazing experience. The nights are dark and the Milky Way is high above us again, the evenings are still mild and the season starts with the Perseid meteor shower, thought by many to be a ‘must’ for all stargazers.