Armagh Observatory and Planetarium is progressing plans to build a new visitor centre in the city.
It is part of exciting redevelopment of the Planetarium, which first opened in 1968, and would further enhance the award-winning and globally-renowned facilities on the College Hill site.
The development would also include a new LED Dome – the first in the UK and only the second in Europe.
The ambitious project would also allow for increased capacity for ‘leisure and educational’ visitors.
Works to protect the Observatory – described as a ‘valuable heritage asset’ which was founded in 1790 – are also proposed.
The masterplan envisages the creation of a ‘Centre for the Cosmos’, something which would function as a unique venue for the public understanding of science.
Representatives of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium are excited by what is being proposed.
And they have asked Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council to agree to facilitate a deputation so they might outline what they believe could be created.
The council’s economic development and regeneration committee has been informed: “The project is being positioned as a strategic investment for Northern Ireland in its offering to the world, a combination of globally recognised scientific heritage, a current and future contribution to the international discipline of astronomy, and to the future of scientific research, science education, and the development of STEM capacity within the population of Northern Ireland.”
The Observatory and Planetarium is also currently aspiring to achieve UNESCO World Heritage recognition.
It was in the summer of 2022 it was confirmed that a ‘first stage bid’ had been made, in partnership with the Irish astronomical observatories at Birr, in County Offaly, and Dunsink in Dublin.
The three observatories of Armagh, Birr and Dunsink were at the front line of world astronomy during the 19th Century, making key contributions to the design of the telescope and to understanding our place in the cosmos.
Not only have these telescopes been used over the decades for important research, they also remain in their original physical form today, making them an exciting and incredibly important element of this collective heritage.
Among the telescopes that can be seen in Armagh is the Troughton Equatorial. Installed in 1795, it is the oldest telescope in the world still in its original dome.
In fact, Armagh Observatory hosts six generations of telescopes, ranging from King George III’s telescopes of 1769, used to measure the Transit of Venus, to the Armagh Robotic Telescope of 2010, used to train PhD students.
ABC Council is now being asked to agree to meet with the Observatory and Planetarium team for an update on the World Heritage List bid, and to hear of “plans for the redevelopment of the Planetarium”.
The economic development committee will be briefed tonight (Tuesday) and requested to approve a meeting when it sits next in April.
