In light of public health concerns, please wear a facemask when visiting the observatory.
We have a hand sanitiser available in the foyer and have increased ventilation and use U.V. air purifiers for your safety.
Admission to the observatory is from the published opening time. The complete programme commences 15 minutes later.
Arrivals after programme commencement may miss some of the programme content.
The programme is approximately 2 hours duration and will usually include a short talk, a planetarium presentation and visits to the historic telescopes and Lockyer Technology Centre.
Telescope domes are unheated and suitable clothing should be worn. Telescope viewing is dependent on clear sky.
The observatory will always be open at the advertised times. There is no need to pre-book for any published open afternoon or evening.
Our public openings are available as an .ics file to import into calendar applications. If you are using Google Calendar then you can automatically receive updates by clicking the arrow next to Other Calendars, choosing “Add by URL” and pasting the link to the file on this website.
Prices – Adults – £10.00, Children – £5:00, Family ( 2 adults and 2 children) £25:00
Date | Time | Theme |
Thu 27th Jan | 19:15 | Winter constellations |
Thu 10th Feb | 19:15 | How solar system bodies are named |
Thu 24th Feb | 19:15 | The sky tonight |
Thu 10th Mar | 19:15 | Spring constellations |
Sat 19th Mar | 11:00 | NLO/Space.Exe open day |
Thu 24th Mar | 19:15 | Exploding stars |
Thu 14th Apr | 19:15 | Observing the Moon |
Thu 28th Apr | 19:15 | Mercury spotting |
Sat 7th May | 20:00 | Sunset walk and storytelling under the stars |
Thu 12th May | 19:15 | Nebulae & galaxies |
Thu 26th May | 19:15 | Using a phone camera for astrophotography? |
Thu 9th Jun | 19:15 | Jupiter and the Juno mission. |
Wed 15th Jun | 14:15 | Safe solar observing |
Thu 23rd Jun | 19:15 | Noctilucent clouds |
Thu 14th Jul | 19:15 | Summer constellations |
Wed 20th Jul | 14:15 | Open afternoon |
Thu 28th Jul | 19:15 | Comets |
Thu 11th Aug | 19:15 | The Perseid meteor shower |
Wed 17th Aug | 14:15 | Open afternoon |
Thu 25th Aug | 19:15 | Saturn |
Thu 8th Sep | 19:15 | Neptune |
Wed 14th Sep | 14:15 | Open afternoon |
Thu 22nd Sep | 19:15 | Jupiter at opposition |
Thu 13th Oct | 19:15 | Eclipses |
Sun 16th Oct | 11:00 | Sidmouth Science Festival Family Day |
Thu 27th Oct | 19:15 | Uranus |
Thu 10th Nov | 19:15 | Autumn constellations |
Thu 24th Nov | 19:15 | The Andromeda Galaxy |
Thu 8th Dec | 19:15 | The Geminid metor shower |
Thu 22nd Dec | 19:15 | Mars at opposition |