Public events at the Blaauw Observatory

The Gratama Telescope

The Gratama Telescope is a beautiful instrument that you can look through with the eye. Visitors can do this as well! Have you never seen the craters on the Moon, the rings of planet Saturn or objects far out in the universe? Then you should definitely come along during our public evenings! The public evenings at the Blaauw Observatory are organised by the Kapteyn Institute (Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen) and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.

National Stargazing Days

Every spring, we participate in the National Stargazing Days and every October in the Nacht van de Nacht. Stargazing evenings are organised regularly from October to March, depending on the weather. During these public evenings, guided tours are given at the observatory itself. In addition, anyone can stargaze in clear weather using the Gratama Telescope and some telescopes on the observatory's roof. There are also astronomical activities for young and old such as crafts, quizzes and lectures, and the Kapteyn Mobile Planetarium is also regularly on hand.

The public evenings are always free of charge.

For upcoming activities, see the calendar. You can also stay up to date via our digital newsletter, Facebook and X/Twitter.

Digital newsletter

If you want to be informed about the public evenings and other activities of the observatory, please leave your name and e-mail address here. We will then once in a while send an email with upcoming activities and various other astronomical events in Groningen. When a flexible stargazing evening takes place (depending on the weather), we will let you know via this newsletter. This email address will only be used for these newsletters. If you wish to unsubscribe from the newsletter, please click here.

Facebook and Twitter

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Large groups

To make an appointment, large groups, such as groups from primary and secondary schools, are requested to contact us by e-mail: sterrenwacht astro.rug.nl. With nice weather, it is possible to set up a solar telescope and have a guided tour during the day.

Accessibility

The Blaauw observatory is located in the Bernoulliborg (Nijenborgh 9) on the Zernike Campus in the north of the city of Groningen. On the Zernike Campus, the Bernoulliborg is indicated on the signs. More information on accessibility can be found here.