Reach for the stars in Northumberland return to blog

10th Feb 2020

In 2013 Northumberland National Park and Kielder Forest and Water Park were awarded the prestigious gold-tier accolade of International Dark Sky Park.  At 572 square miles (1,483 square kilometres) it's also Europe’s largest area of protected night sky, making it officially the best place in England for people to go to enjoy the heavens. 

Most of the UK's population live in densely populated and light polluted urban areas. They see a handful of stars through an orange glow. Here in the Northumberland International Dark Sky Park your eyes can feast on up to 2,000 at any one time; the furthest object you can see with your naked eye is the Andromeda Galaxy – a vast island of stars very similar to our own Milky Way. 

The Milky Way cannot be seen from built up areas. In fact, 80% of us have never seen it. But here in the Northumberland, we see it in all its glory, looking like an elongated glow set amongst the stars. Use binoculars and you will see its arms stretch out on both sides from a bright central core. This amazing object is 2.5 million light years away!

The Northumberland International Dark Sky Park and our 70 miles of Heritage Coastline are also top spots to see the Aurora Borealis - a truly awesome astrological sight which once seen, is never forgotten!  Why not set up a AuroraWatch alert - so you don't miss the opportunity whilst you're here.

If you want to keep your star-gazing simple, just wait until it's dark, wrap up warm and take a blanket or deckchair to the nearest open, unpopulated space and spend some time gazing up at the magnificent night sky.  Don't forget your binoculars for an even brighter experience!

Or perhaps visit Kielder Observatory, a public astronomical observatory, where you'll find "infinite inspriate and wonders you could could never have imagined.  

To stay and star-gaze in Northumberland, click here to view our cottages ....