So how do we guarantee an evening of stargazing at Witchmark Observatory?
Well, with most Stargazing talks, the evening comprises of a talk about the night sky and IF you're lucky with the weather you're invited to look through one or two telescopes shared with others.
Well.. lets face it, that's a bit hit and miss living in rainy Lancashire isn't it and there's always someone who wants to hog the telescope!! :D
So, how do we do it differently?
Launching in January 2026 and then every year from the beginning of September to the end of March, Witchmark Observatory will be offering people the opportunity to join our queue for stargazing events which run from Monday to Thursday.
With our queueing system and when we're guaranteed good weather, you'll be sent a message and email to offer you a place with 48 hours notice. If you can't make it - don't worry, you're offered a spot on the next evening and maintain your place at the top of the queue.
If you can make it, then you book on.
We limit spaces to 10 people per evening, and with 5 large telescopes for use, you're guaranteed an evening with time to explore.
The evening comprises of an hours talk in front of a camp fire about the night sky, how to use the telescope, what all the bits and knobs do on a telescope and then some more information about what we can expect to see. I'll then show you the Observatory to show you what that does and how it works (This can also be booked for use with an overnight stay - more information on that coming soon!)
Once that's over, we then start observing the night sky through the telescopes. As long as its visible (It moves around of course and not always in the sky that night) you'll be able to see the bands on Jupiter and its moons, Saturns rings, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy plus more.
After a while, we'll bring out some jacket potatoes with cheese and butter and hot chocolates (or tea and coffee if you prefer) for a stargazing snack to keep you warm.
It does get cold where we are as we're pretty exposed and rural (especially in December, January and February).. so warm clothes are a must.. however we do have a lovely Stargazers lounge for you to use with heaters to warm through and toilets.. so everything is catered for :)
Please keep your eyes on Facebook and our webpage (www.witchmarkobservatory.com) for our initial launch. There will be a very limited number of "early bird" tickets available so its important to keep your eyes peeled!
Please do like our Facebook page and share it far and wide!! When we get to 1000 likes we'll be offering free tickets to anyone that has shared our page.
Thank you, we're really excited about this!
Clear Skies! x