AN OBSERVATORY that was destroyed by fire in 2021 is set to “rise from the ashes” at a new site away from East Ayrshire, an astronomy charity has announced.
The Scottish Dark Sky Observatory will reopen on the banks of the Clatteringshaws Loch in Galloway Forest Park in late 2026.
Previously located near to Loch Doon, the site, within Scotland’s only 'gold tier' dark sky park, has been selected for what the charity described as the exceptional quality of its dark night skies, and its accessibility.
The £1.5 million development is set to comprise two observing domes, each with a large telescope, and a 360-degree planetarium offering immersive educational shows and night sky simulations.
The site will also offer educational spaces, an exhibition area, gift shop and café, with trustees saying the project will create a number of jobs and volunteering positions.
Marc Charron, chairman of the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory board, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured the purchase of such a wonderful site on which to create a new astronomical observatory.
“We are determined to create an outstanding facility that will inspire people for generations to come in the wonders to behold in a truly dark night sky.”
The former observatory opened in 2012 near Dalmellington in East Ayrshire on the edge of Galloway Forest Park, but was destroyed in a fire on June 23, 2021.
A return to the former site was ruled out last year following a feasibility study due to poor accessibility, lack of utilities and security concerns.
The charity’s trustees said the equipment at the new site will enable visitors to see nebulae, star clusters and galaxies, which are difficult or impossible to view from urban or light-polluted skies.
They added that the observatory will also be well placed to observe transient phenomena like meteor showers, aurora, and comets, as well as providing daytime viewing of the sun through specialised solar telescopes.
Scottish Dark Sky Observatory patron Professor Catherine Heymans said the new site will be “a bigger and better version” of its predecessor.
“In Scotland we’re incredibly proud of our internationally recognised dark sky sites, far from the streetlights that prevent urban-dwellers from seeing the true beauty of the cosmos,” she said.
“When the clouds clear at Clatteringshaws Loch, deep within the Galloway Forest, the sky is literally teeming with stars.
“It’s the perfect location for the new Scottish Dark Sky Observatory, which, like a Phoenix, is rising from the ashes of its much-loved predecessor, renewed as a bigger and better version of what came before.”
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