Purpose-built teaching and public outreach facility run by the Jerimiah Horrocks Institute division of the University of Central Lancashire. Home to the Moses Holden Telescope, one of the largest telescopes in the UK, as well as the historic Wilfred Hall Telescope the site also has a planetarium all of which are used for undergraduate teaching and encouraging public engagement in science. Access to the facility is strictly by prior booking on one of their monthly open evenings.
Location events organiser
Alston Observatory organises events at this location
Please contact Alston Observatory directly with any enquiries relating to visiting this location
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.star.uclan.ac.uk/observatories/alston-observatory/
Weather forecast
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23/10/21
11° 7% -
23/10/21
10° 5% -
24/10/21
10° 7% -
24/10/21
10° 12%
Weather forecast for Longridge (2.1 miles away) updated 23/10/21 at 16:00.
Local light pollution
Alston Observatory is estimated to have light pollution levels similar to asemi-rural semi-rural location based on data from the VIIRS satellite.
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Urban
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Suburban
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Semi-rural
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Rural
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Dark site
The above demonstrates the estimated effect of light pollution - graphics created using Stellarium.
Best time to visit
The below chart shows when the skies will be at their darkest at this location and therefore the best time to visit. Moonlight is shown in light yellow and the Sun's twilight in light blue. Midnight on the date shown is shown as a white line with sunset to the left and sunrise the next morning to the right. A black background with stars shows the best times for stargazing. See our dark sky calendar for more details.
Sat 23rd Oct
Sun 24th Oct
Mon 25th Oct
Tue 26th Oct
Wed 27th Oct
Thu 28th Oct
Fri 29th Oct
Find more dates
If you are planning to visit this location check our dark sky calendar to find out when is best!
Calendar