Frequently Asked Questions

The best way to visit the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium is to book a Dome Show Ticket. This includes:

• Entrance to the Planetarium Exhibition Area, including our Sensory Room
• Entrance to the Dome Show of your choosing
• Entrance to our grounds

A visit to AOP can be expected to last between 2 – 3 hours. Find out more about which shows you can book here.

Though we are one organisation, our Observatory is a separate, active research institution in which our astronomers and astronomy students do their work. You can book a tour of the Observatory on selected dates here, or arrange a special booking with us.

We are normally open from 10am – 5pm Tuesday to Sunday, and Bank Holiday Mondays. We occasionally have late openings for special events, like our observing nights, or closings for on-site events like conferences (check our events listing and social media for up-to-date details).

Our grounds and the Planetarium car park are accessible 24/7, but the Observatory and its associated buildings – including the telescope domes – are only open to the public for (daytime) tours on selected dates here, for special events, or through prearranged group, Gold, or Diamond Tour bookings.

We recommend you arrive at AOP at least 15 minutes before your Dome Show start time to allow time to check in at our Reception and be seated in our Digital Theatre. You can look around the Planetarium both before and after your Dome Show – so there’s no rush! Last entry is at 4:30pm, unless we are open late for special events.

During term time, we recommend visiting AOP on weekends and Bank Holiday Mondays; we have dome shows every hour, as well as a walk-in workshop. We are open to the public during weekdays too, but as we are busy with school visits we would recommend visiting us from noon onwards. During term time weekdays we have one show on daily at 2pm.

We are located on College Hill, in Armagh. Our Planetarium is beside the Portadown Road, which is the main road from Belfast. Look out for the dome!

Yes, we have a visitor Car Park within our grounds as well as a coach Car Park. Be advised, during peak times it can become busy so we recommend arriving early.

We have Dome Shows that are for “Under 5s” and small children specifically – they are shorter in length and the dome doesn’t get quite as dark. “Family Shows” are also suitable for young children. Any “Adult Shows” are not scary, but are more in depth in terms of scientific content and so are therefore unsuitable for very young children. Information on all our shows is available on our ticket booking page, but if you need more information please feel free to contact Reception.

The best way to get any questions or queries about your ticket solved is to email our reception with as much detail as possible. This will mean we can hopefully resolve your query quickly. To contact reception, email us via reception@armagh.ac.uk.

Most telescopes we have on site at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium are antiques; while they were once used to study the stars and create the amazing NGC Catalogue, they are no longer in use for regular modern day observing. You can see what they look like up close by visiting us on a Legendary Telescope Tour. You cannot look through these on a normal visit to the Planetarium – especially since you are visiting us during daylight hours!

We do however run observing evenings wherein (weather permitting) you can look through a telescope, as well as attend a dome show. Please check here to see when our next one is scheduled (monthly between October and March)!