ROE

As part of the Doors Open Day in Edinburgh, I visited the Royal Observatory today.

I've wanted to go for a while and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I arrived super early, but really enjoyed an early morning walk around Blackford Hill in the sunshine. It's stunning!

The observatory was built in 1894 and has two towers topped with cylindrical copper domes. The East Dome houses this Grubb Parsons telescope. which was installed in 1930. Telescopes haven't been used in the observatory for over 40 years now. The big guys are situated in vast open spaces in countries that have clearer skies. Edinburgh sadly gets a lot of cloud cover and the proximity of the city makes for poor visibility.

I had a great trip - very informative and i even squeezed in a planetarium show. I felt like a big kid, learning about the constellations! I wish I'd borrowed a child to take so I didn't look as ridiculous on my own!

I had so many great pictures to blip, but I decided to go with the telescope...it was made in Newcastle after all!