Observatories · North East England
Kielder Observatory
Kielder Observatory in England North East, United Kingdom.
Roger Gittins — CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1.5 h–2.5 h
- Best time of year
- Moonless winter nights (Oct–Mar)
About
Kielder Observatory is a place of interest in England North East, United Kingdom — drawn from open-data sources for visitor reference. See the linked Wikipedia article for the full description.
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From the Wikipedia article
Kielder Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, England. The site is on Black Fell, overlooking Kielder Water near the Scottish border. It is accessible from James Turrell's Kielder Skyspace via a half-mile long forest track. The observatory's design is the result of a competition managed by RIBA Competitions which was won by London-based Charles Barclay Architects. The building is powered by solar panels and a wind turbine. It won the RIBA Award for its architecture in 2009 and also that same year a Civic Trust Award. The observatory is administered by the Kielder Observatory Astronomical Society, which is a registered charity consisting of a board of Trustees and ten permanent members of staff responsible for educational delivery.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
Kielder Forest was a popular place for stargazing before the construction of the observatory, with the Kielder Forest Star Camp being an annual event. Amateur astronomer Gary Fildes—who had been involved with the Star Camp—began advocating for an observatory to be built within the forest and led a campaign that raised several hundred thousand pounds to pay for construction. Kielder Observatory was officially opened on 25 April, 2008 by Sir Arnold Wolfendale, the 14th Astronomer Royal, and in its first year entertained approximately 1200 guests. In 2014, the observatory had nearly 20,000 visitors, thus making it one of the top tourist destinations in Northumberland. In 2018, Kielder…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 55.2319, -2.6162
- Address
- Kielder Forest, Northumberland, England
- Established
- 2008
- Official site
- kielderobservatory.org
Sources
- wikidata: Q6405250 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Kielder Observatory (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Kielder Observatory?
- Kielder Observatory is in North East England, in the United Kingdom — coordinates 55.2319°, -2.6162°.
- When was Kielder Observatory built?
- Kielder Observatory dates to 2008.