Royal Observatory Edinburgh

Edinburgh

In Person

As well as being an historic site, The Royal Observatory Edinburgh is a working observatory which houses more than 200 staff and students. It encompasses two organisations: The UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) which includes the Higgs Centre for Innovation and the Institute for Astronomy (IfA). The UK ATC is part of UK Research and Innovation, and the IfA is part of the University of Edinburgh.

Engineers at the UK ATC design extremely sensitive cameras and other instruments for many of the world’s best telescopes and for the big telescopes of the future. They are also finding innovative ways of using this technological expertise in fields outside of astronomy, including earth observation and medicine.

The research of scientists at the IfA tackles many of the big questions in astronomy, including the search for life-bearing planets and studying the oldest and most distant objects in our universe.

Join us across the weekend to:

• Speak with Astronomers
• Talk to Engineers
• Take part in Astronomy crafts
• Hear from exciting start-up companies
• Handle meteorites

Last entry to site at 3:45pm.

Facilities

• WC
• Events For Children
• Limited Access
• Disabled Access
• Disabled WC
• Parking

Additional Access Information

Some of our buildings have limited access, others are wheelchair accessible and have accessible toilets - please ask at welcome desk for accessibility map or step-free map.

Small number of accessible parking spaces. Extremely limited parking by the observatory and we ask those who can use public transport instead to do so.

Gallery