Observatory

Castle Head has a unique educational and scientific facility in the form of a fully equipped observatory.

With support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and in conjunction with Dark Sky Discovery we are a recognised as a dark sky centre due to our low light pollution and wide field of view.

We have a computer guided 8” Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain catadioptric telescope mounted on to a pier support.   This telescope is housed in its own purpose-built observatory with a removable roof allowing a sheltered but unimpeded observational site.

In addition to this we have a suite of table top telescopes consisting of four 5” Dobsonian mounted Newtonian reflectors and four 3” simple reflectors, all of which students can use themselves with guidance. The portability of these devices allows for more viewing locations around the centre and for teaching about the properties and design of telescopes.

As the centre is an educational establishment curriculum links can be with a number of physics modules for KS4 Science specifications and Science themes for KS2.

The observatory is contained on the centres own land within a small compound allowing a secure area to facilitate dark sky observation without compromising safety and group management.