Stargazing and Moongazing at Castle Semple
Monday 10th March 2025 from 19:30pm to 21:00pm
Castle Semple Visitor Centre
Lochlip Road, Lockwinnoch, Renfrewshire, PA12 4EA
Take a closer look at Renfrewshire’s stunning night sky in this, the last of the series, of Dark Sky Viewing Nights.
Led by John Pressly – Science Curator at One Ren’s Paisley Museum – and Clyde Muirshiel’s Countryside Rangers, this series of outdoor events will explore some of the most mesmerising wonders of the night sky through a telescope. Expect to see the Moon, far-away galaxies, constellations and even the International Space Station.
This viewing night on Monday 10th March will take place at Castle Semple Visitor Centre, Lochwinnoch. This site has a great dark sky, due to its lochside location away the light polluting glow of some of the other towns and cities of the central belt.
Planned is an in depth look at the Moon, which will be visible in the night’s sky and if not, an indoor lecture where John will take questions from the audience.
Please note that this has already taken place on 10/03/2025
Event booking
For full details on how to attend this event, including how to book, please see the event's official website.
Visit event websiteEvent darkness
The below chart shows if and when the skies will be at their darkest during this event. 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.
Mon 10th Mar
Local light pollution
Castle Semple Visitor Centre is estimated to have light pollution levels similar to asemi-rural semi-rural location based on the latest 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.