Location description
The car park at Fort Victoria is open to the public and an easily accessible observing site with dark skies and good cover from local light pollution.
The country park is also home to the Island Planetarium run by enthusiastic local astronomers. The planetarium is open every day during the summer — during winter stargazing events are held on evenings and weekends. A fantastic place to venture if holidaying on the Isle of Wight.
Location event organiser
West Wight Stargazing Group organises stargazing events at this location.
Dark sky discovery site
Designated as a Dark Sky Discovery Site this location is accessible by members of the public and are officially recognised as excellent places to stargaze. Such locations often have free overnight car parking, some have toilet facilities however rarely allow overnight camping.
Planetarium
This location has a planetarium offering astronomy presentations projected onto a large curved screen or dome.
Tonight's weather forecast
Location light pollution
This location is estimated to have light pollution levels similar to a semi-rural setting based on satellite data from CPRE.
When to stargaze at Fort Victoria Country Park & Planetarium
This location's semi-rural setting means it benefits from dark skies depending on the time of the year and lunar cycle. In the calendar below where you can see stars indicates when the skies will be dark and the best time to stargaze. Yellow areas show the adverse effects of daylight (bold) and moonlight (faded). Hover over a day to see darkness times or click on a date for more information.
