Dark Sky Explorer
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Availability
All year round, at weekends
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Duration
1.5+ hours
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Price from
£200 per group (up to 8 people). From £25pp
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Suitable for
Adults & children from 4 years old. Wheelchair accessible
Introduction
Exploring the beauty of the night sky is an awe-inspiring experience, and Dartmoor offers some of the darkest skies in the UK. During this experience we will show you how to set up a telescope, guide you through some of the wonders of the night sky and share our astronomy knowledge with you. Our goal is to set you off on a journey to explore and appreciate our night skies for yourself.
An introduction to setting up a telescope: what type of telescope you will be using, how telescopes work and what you can expect to see.
Understand how the night sky changes through the seasons and what sort of astronomical objects you can enjoy through the seasons.
Your personal astronomer will show you naked-eye objects such as constellations and planets and then guide you through more distant astronomical wonders with a telescope. You’ll enjoy views of all sorts of objects including planets, star systems, galaxies, star clusters and nebulae.
To secure your experience - contact the team today
Why this experience is great for you.
- Our astronomers are knowledgeable and practiced science communicators, so it’s a great opportunity to expand your knowledge of our universe.
- Stargazing with a smaller group means that you get to enjoy even more astronomical objects through telescopes and ask as many questions as you wish.
- We’ll bring a large thermos of hot chocolate to help keep the cold at bay.
- To help you on your way with your stargazing journey after the experience, we’ll provide you with a Dartmoor Skies stargazing booklet and an equipment guide.
- Under 7s can attend your group free of charge.
Photos
Facilities and additional information
Timings: Running Saturday and Sunday. Start times may vary to ensure dark skies.
Equipment needed: Even during the summer, it can get very chilly when you’re outside so please wrap up warm. We recommend sensible waterproof footwear and clothes (hats, scarves, gloves...the works). Feeling cold can make stargazing a less jolly affair but, on a more serious note, it can be dangerous too.
We provide all stargazing equipment. However, if you have your own telescope and would like help with setting it up you are welcome to bring it with you if you wish.
You may also like to bring a blanket and something waterproof to sit on.
A torch is useful to navigate rough ground. We’ll ask you to keep its use to a minimum once the stargazing starts as this will help your night vision and improve your stargazing experience.
Weather: Stargazing is weather-dependent. We will make a decision about whether to go ahead 24 hours of the proposed date. If postponed, an alternative date will be arranged where possible. When this is not possible, a full refund will be issued.
We aim to stargaze with you for a minimum of 1.5 hours, but if the weather takes a turn for the worse we reserve the right to cut the session short.
Parking: We will meet at a designated car park on Dartmoor. Some car parks charge for parking between designated times - usually £1 for 3 hours. We recommend you bring some change.
Food and drink: We will provide hot chocolate, but you may want to bring your own hot drinks with you as well, though nothing alcoholic, please. You’re also welcome to bring snacks too.
Toilets: We aren’t able to guarantee access to toilet facilities so it’s best to use the facilities before you leave the house.
Additional info: We offer two different meeting points for stargazing. Our meeting point will be decided once a booking has been confirmed:
Haytor Visitor Centre https://goo.gl/maps/qF1jJK6AP8FhxDN46
Swallerton Gate car park at Hound Tor https://goo.gl/maps/g9RszpAjBLkoSJHZ6
Location
To secure your experience - contact the team today