Dark Skies

Large open moorland and views that stretch for miles make Durham ideal for stargazing, and the North Pennines AONB and UNESCO Global Geopark has more nationally recognised Dark Sky Discovery Sites than any other part of the UK.

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. In the Durham Dales and North Pennines AONB 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 in the Durham Dales and North Pennines AONB, you can see this amazing object which is 2.5million light years away in all its glory, as well as meteor showers. These 'shooting stars' are grains of dust from the tails of comets burning up when they enter the Earth's atmosphere. 

The Durham Dales is also home to Britain’s newest observatory! The state of the art Grassholme Observatory offers visitors a chance to enjoy the wonders of the universe at workshops and events led by top astronomers throughout the year. 

Of the 16 official Dark Sky Discover Sites in the North Pennines AONB and UNESCO Global Geopark, 12 of them are in Durham, making it the ideal base for a stargazing break.

Learn more about how you can reduce your own light pollution, or see how dark the sky is in places you visit.

Download the Stargazing in the North Pennines guide >