Making our star gazing trips so much easier
The stars may be trillions of kilometres away but Ayrshire astronomers are bringing them right down to earth.
A planetarium has been unveiled at the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory near Dalmellington.
The celestial hub already boasts a huge telescope for night- time use but now it has a daytime attraction as well.
But now thanks to the new planetarium the observatory can display the heavens’ constellations no matter what the weather.
During the launch of the attraction last week, landowner and trustee of the observatory, Mark Gibson, said the observatory was now breaking even.
He said: “It is five years to the day when we opened the observatory. At the time there were those who doubted the observatory could survive – a project on top of a hill with no electricity?” He said he believes in the “project, the place, and people” in the community whom he has grown to love.
The Craigengillan estate owner said many people had lost the connection to the natural environment but the observatory could help bring it back.
The rugged 3000- acre landscape has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere region joining the ranks of Ayers Rock, Australia, and parts of the Amazon. Describing the domed planetarium, he said it was “a great feat of engineering and completely bespoke”.
Education will be a big goal of the planetarium and there are plans to project images from night skies around the world.
Astronomer David Warrington said: “Unfortunately in Scotland the skies are not always clear so the planetarium allows us to bring groups in and teach them about the constellations. It is great to have a visitor attraction.”
Manager Fi McClelland said: “It will allow us to feature footage from around the world.”
The Lord- Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran, John Duncan, officially launched the planetarium on Thursday. He said: “It is absolutely fantastic and it is five years to the day since Mark opened the observatory.
“What Mark has done for Dalmellington is phenomenal.
“Before Mark there were barbed wire fences and locked gates.
“The people of Dalmellington have bought into what he is trying to do here and have open access.”
Children from Patna and Dalmellington Primary attended the buzzing launch.
Dalmellington acting head teacher, Claire Mullin, said: “We are fortunate to have the observatory on our doorstep and want to make more use of it.”
Describing challenges of building the planetarium, architect, Tim Beecher, said: “It is a unique project and quite rare to do. It was a bespoke design and a challenge to create the dome.
“The project was on top of an exposed and remote hill with no mains power.”
The six- metre dome structure was created with plywood.
Director Senan Kelleher, of Kelsen Technical, said the team had four months to build the dome. He said: “It was a great project in a beautiful site.”
‘ It is absolutely fantastic… what Mark has done for Dalmellington is phenomenal’