Mansfield and Sutton Astronomical Society holds a number of public open evenings each year during the Autumn and Winter months.
As the skies do not become dark early enough we will not be holding open evenings again until the Autumn/Winter. The next open evening will be on Saturday 12 October.
Gates open at 6.45 p.m. If you are bringing young children it is advisable to come for the start.
Entrance £3.50 adults / £1.00 under 16s. (Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult).
No advance booking.
Please note that car parking space at the observatory is limited and that there are no areas for parking nearby. Unless you have a special reason for coming early it is usually better to arrive after 8.00 p.m. when car parking often eases; entry carries on throughout the evening so by arriving later you do not miss anything.
We have a rolling programme of lectures and tour of the telescope dome lasting approximately 20 minutes each. This programme will continue throughout the evening.
Our observational pad and telescopes will remain open as long as the weather permits, together with all our other activities and displays until the last visitor is ready to leave.
We would like to remind visitors that it is illegal to park on the grass verge of the main road, and vehicles must NOT be allowed to block pavement or entry access to properties. It is also strongly advised NOT to park or queue on the busy main road as emergency vehicle access MUST be maintained at all times.
Society members often bring their own telescopes to open evenings so there are usually a variety of amateur telescopes, ranging in price from a few hundred pounds to several thousand pounds, which members of the public are welcome to look through, and compare to each other.
There is wheelchair access into the building/lecture room and disabled toilet facilities.
Visitors enter the building in groups of 20. Initially there is a 20 minute talk from one of the society's knowledgable amateur astronomy lecturers; the subject of the talk is different at each open evening. After that the group go into the dome which houses the large observatory telescope and which, weather permitting, will be in use.
Following this visitors will then be outside where they can look through the members' telescopes and where one of the society's members will usually guide guests around the night sky pointing out some of the more recognisable constellations, and explaining how one constellation can be used to point the way to another, or how stars within constellations can be used to find other objects.
Please note that the dome and large telescope cannot be opened up and used if the weather is wet or very windy and even in dry conditions it is usually cold both in the dome and outside so warm clothing is a necessity.
If you have any other queries about our open evenings, please contact our public events co-ordinator via our Contact Us page, or by email at events@sherwood-observatory.org.uk.
For more information about other society events, please visit our Society Events page.