Observatory
I went to Kielder Observatory yesterday with my Daddy. It was an early birthday present from Granny and Grandpa.
It was a long drive to Kielder and on the way we listened to music from my MP3 player and I played Minecraft on the iPad.
When we arrived it was foggy but not yet dark. As we waited in the car we played Olo on the iPad.
At just before 5pm we went into the Observatory and sat in the classroom. Gary the leader of the Observatory taught us things about space that they have measured. I answered lots of questions.
After that we went to look at both of the telescopes. One was controlled by a computer and the other by hand. With the computer controlled one you could tap ‘Enter’ and it would go wherever you want. I got to have a turn because I answered a question.
They said it was too foggy to look through the telescope.
Mummy bought a torch for me which has four different colours. They are green, red, blue, and white. We had to use the red one while we were at the Observatory.
On the way home we went to McDonald’s!
Well, that sounds like a fantastic adventure!
I’d never heard of Kielder Observatory but I’ve just looked it up online. Having a chance to look at the telescopes sounds exciting. I love the photos too; especially your red torch one.
You have very neat handwriting!
Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Thanks! My Daddy keeps telling me to write differently with my hand.
Hi Ben, I really enjoyed reading your blog. I remember my parents taking me to look through a telescope at the stars and teaching me the constellations.
There are lots of projects to do with Mars at the moment, would you like to travel in space when you’re older?
Hope you have a good birthday 🙂
Thanks! I would prefer to stay on Earth because it’s much more colourful. 🙂
A great description of your day Ben.
I used to have a telescope when I was your age and I used to put red tape on my torch.
There is a reason you need to use red light using a torch in the dark. When you are looking at stars outside and you want to look at star maps, if you use an ordinary torch it’s so bright it takes a long time for your eyes to get used to looking at the stars again.
If you use a torch with red light your eyes can see the stars again after you have read your map much faster.
Do red light is easier on your eyes.
I did see with the red light. 🙂
Hi Ben,
I loved reading your post about the Observatory. It sounds like you had a great time. You must be very clever to have answered lots of questions.
I’ve never been to an Observatory before. I might have to go after reading your blog!
I hope you have a great birthday.
From Karyn
Australia
Thanks 🙂
Hi Ben
Great blog!
When you got to be in charge of the computer telescope, what instruction did you give it? What did you see in the sky? Or was it too foggy? 🙂
It was really foggy 🙂
You lucky thing! Kielder is great isn’t it? I went int he summer and it didn’t get truly dark until midnight. When I was there we were lucky enough to see Mercury and it’s rings through the telescope and Jupitwe was also very clear that night.
Glad you enjoyed yourself, keep watching the stars!
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your interesting blog, I have been to Kielder a couple of times but it was only clear enough to see through the telescopes once. It is still interesting to look at all the equipment and talk to the people who work there even on the cloudy or foggy nights – it sounds like you already knew a lot with all the questions you answered, maybe one day it will be you showing people round.
If you get chance you should try visiting the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank – maybe if you do some gardening and washing up for Granny and Grandpa they might consider it as another present ;-).
Hi Ben
You blog is fantastic and I hope that you carry on loving the stars, the planets and space.
I have not been to Kielder yet although I do know Gary. I am definitely going to go very soon after reading your blog.
Sue
Hey Ben, Great blog. You should see if your dad will allow you to download Stellarium onto your computer or Ipad for you, its a great program that lets you whizz around the sky and see all the planets and stars and things even when its cloudy!!!
Hi Ben
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. You made me want to visit Kielder myself. It’s a pity it was foggy but it must have been fun to see all of the telescopes and computers.
Have a good birthday!
Hi Ben. Great Blog and photos. We are hoping to make a visit to the observatory this summer and I want to go even more after reading this. Well done.
Have a nice Birthday 🙂
What a fantastic thing… inspiring and epic
Hello Ben
So glad you enjoyed your trip to the Observatory. Hope you didn’t find the journey too long! Did you learn more about space than you knew before? Using a computer to direct a telescope sounds fun. Was it difficult to do? Lots of love Granny x