Observing | airdrieobservatory

Observing

Welcome to Airdrie Observatory.

Did you know that there are only four public observatories in the United Kingdom? That they are ALL in Scotland? and that Airdrie Observatory is the smallest and the second oldest?

Airdrie Astronomical Association opens the observatory during astronomical events, at open days, for ten evening viewing sessions between November and January and by arrangement for groups wishing to visit.
Follow us on Facebook for all the latest astronomy news and Observatory updates.

AAA operates Airdrie Observatory on behalf of North Lanarkshire Council (NLC).

Meet our curators

Did you know that Airdrie Observatory has had some very famous visitors including three Apollo astronauts, one of which is a Moonwalker!

Visit Walk With Destiny to learn more about these incredible visits, organised by club secretary, Aileen Malone.

Visit Walk With Destiny

Our joint curators William Tennant and Jack Frederick
will be on hand to answer all your questions and show you around the Observatory.

Winter Observing Sessions

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Our Winter Viewing Sessions Run on Tuesday nights during November, December and January.

Viewing nights are open to the public from 5:30 - 7:00pm (last admission 6:45pm)
So pop in and visit us!

Why not book a visit for your group?
Group visits include a presentation about the Solar System as well as a visit to the Observatory and are a great outing for all ages.

To Book a group visit contact us to reserve your night!

Observatory Calendar

Use our handy Observatory Calendar below to see what nights we have groups booked in, to help you to decide the best night to plan your visit to the Observatory and a handy list of what we might be able to see (weather permitting) at our open observing nights!

Airdrie Observatory Open Nights – Target Observing Objects For Session 2025/2026
Discover what’s up at the Airdrie Observatory from now till the end of January.

Viewing celestial objects is dependant on clear skies, but you can still come along if it is cloudy and see
the observatory and get any questions about astronomy answered. You never know there may be a break
in the clouds!

4th November 2025
We start our observing season with Saturn low in the east after sunset. The rings will be edge on making
them challenging to see, will you be able to spot them? There will be a full moon tonight so only brighter
stars will be visible.

11th November 2025
Saturn will be visible tonight with no bright moon more stars will be visible. The winter constellations are
starting to come into view. We may be able to pick out the Andromeda galaxy if conditions allow.

18th November 2025
Saturn will be visible tonight, getting higher in the sky. With no bright moon more stars will be visible.
The winter constellations are starting to come into view and we may be able to get views of Albireo a
beautiful yellow and blue binary star in the Cygnus constellation.

25th November 2025
Saturn will again be visible tonight. We have a 5 day old moon low in the south west. The winter
constellations are getting higher. The Pleiades open star cluster will be high in the sky.

2nd December 2025
Saturn will again be visible tonight. We have a 12 day old moon high in the south east. We will get very
clear views of moon features and craters.

9th December 2025
Saturn will again be visible tonight. We will have seen how the positions of Saturn's satellites (moons)
have changed over the viewing season. We have no moon in the sky so fainter stars and objects are easier
to spot.

16th December 2025
The last session for this year sees Saturn visible with no moon present. This is the darkest the sky will be
for our official observing sessions, the winter solstice (longest night) being the 21st

December .We have
no moon in the sky so fainter stars and objects are easier to spot. Will we be able to see faint Uranus?

6th January 2026
We start the year as we left the previous. Saturn visible. The winter solstice is 14 days in the past. We have
a no moon in the sky so fainter stars and objects are easier to spot. Will we be able to see faint Uranus
before the sky lightens over the next few weeks?

13th January 2026
Orion is starting to rise low in the south east and the Hyades open star cluster in Taurus will be high in the
sky and visible, with bright orange red star Aldebaran (the red eye of the bull) prominent. Our travelling
companion during this observing session, Saturn will also be visible. Will we spot rising Jupiter, low in
the East?

20th January 2026
Orion will be more prominent, with the winter constellations being high in the sky. Saturn will, again, be
visible. We should get some good views of Jupiter, although fairly low in the sky.

27th January 2026
The last night of the observing session puts on a lovely show. A beautiful half moon will be very close to
the Pleiades star cluster and high in the sky. As with all the weeks this session Saturn will be with us and

Jupiter will be prominent. An excellent range of objects to end the sessions with.
Further into the year.

As the weeks progress Jupiter will get higher and more obvious, with Venus becoming visible.
Around the 21st April at about 9pm, with clear sky you will be able to see a thin crescent moon, Venus and
Jupiter setting in the West/South West.

“My husband and daughter visited the observatory on tuesday night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you all so much taking the time with them. My husband has always had an interest but it was great to see my daughter getting excited about it. She went into school the next day and did a small talk about the night.”

Anne S.