The Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre

Virtual Doors Open Days

This Weekend we are holding our first ever Virtual Open Day!

Visit the VDOD2020 website and book your free space to the live events

Covid 19 Announcement

The Royal Observatory Visitor Centre is closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. We are not confirming any new group bookings at the current time, and there are no public events taking place on site.

All upcoming events are subject to cancellation. Attendees to cancelled public events will receive a full refund. If you have any questions please get in touch via email on vis@roe.ac.uk as the Visitor Centre team are currently working from home.

UPDATE: Materials to support learning about space and astronomy at home are now available on our Home Learning page. We will announce new materials as they are added via our Twitter channel @RoyalObs

Astronomy Talks now available online, more information and register you free place at this link: Astronomy Talks

Opened in 1894, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh is a unique place which combines historic buildings and collections with cutting-edge science and technology. The Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre runs a variety of programmes and events on site at the Royal Observatory and throughout Scotland to provide access to the Observatory and share its work with members of the public, community groups, and schools.

Individuals and groups of up to 10 people can book in for a range of public events, including Public Astronomy Evenings, our Astronomy Talk series. You can also visit during our annual Doors Open Days Weekend in September. Uniformed groups of 10-30 people can book in for a private educational visit to help achieve space themed badges.

We also provide support for primary schools and for secondary schools, including on-site visits, visits to your school, classroom resources and professional development programmes. All of these use space as an inspiring context for teaching and learning, and link to the Curriculum for Excellence.

Please note: the Royal Observatory is a busy workplace, and we are unable to accommodate drop-in visits of any kind. Pre-booking is essential.