After years of planning, OM Dark Sky Park and Observatory was due to open in Co Tyrone in April.
At the start of the year, the park, which benefits from some of the darkest skies in Ireland, had finally received official accreditation and building work was being completed on the striking glass-fronted observatory in Davagh Forest in the foothills of the Sperrins.
Then lockdown was announced.
Belfast-born Kirsty Gordon, who manages the new facility, said staff could only watch as “our contractors had to leave the site one by one”.
“We had to wait until it was safe for our contractors to come back,” she said.
“A lot of our AV (audio-visual) contractors were coming from England and Dublin so… we had to work out when it was safe for them to travel. We also had to look at how many contractors we could have on site at any one time.”
The project, jointly funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and Mid Ulster Council, allows star-gazers to observe the planets in an area which has very little light pollution.
Ms Gordon said the first months of lockdown were spent trying to work out when the centre could open and how guided tours could be held safely. Some staff training also had to be done online.
“We had to put a new plan in place for opening during Covid,” she said.
The new facility is only the second in Ireland — and the first in the north — to be accredited as an IDA International Dark Sky Park.
“We’re in a natural area which is really dark,” Ms Gordon said.
“80% of the population live under what is called sky glow. If you were up Cave Hill and looking out over Belfast you see the glow in the air which is actually pollution.
She added: “There was a lot of work had to go into the dark sky accreditation. There are meters placed around the forest to measure the light pollution - or lack of it. You have to maintain that to keep the accreditation. Part of the accreditation is also about informing visitors about light pollution what you can do to (combat) it.”
The observatory offers 45-minute guided tours on the basics of star-gazing. Ms Gordon said one of the challenges was allowing visitors to have a full tour while still adhering to Covid guidance.
“Our guided tours are fully-interactive and very hands-on,” she said.
“We use things like virtual reality headsets, telescopes, binoculars and touch-screen technology… We still want the customer to have the same experience… So we reduced our tours from 20 people to six so that we can maintain social distancing. By doing that it’s actually working out for the benefit of the customers so they are getting a more one-on-one experience with a tour guide.
“In between tours we have allocated 30 minutes to do a deep-clean. We still want people to be able to use the VR headsets and interactive equipment so we have just allowed extra cleaning time between tours so we can clean anything people had touched.
“In terms of the guided tour we have extended our introduction…so that people will not have to think about where they will stand, we will guide them.”
Visitors can also sit on an outdoor viewing platform and watch films about the surrounding area or the solar system which are projected on to the side of the building.
“The first time I watched the light show I got goosebumps and I still get them when I see it again,” Ms Gordon said.
“I think kids will be blown away by it. There is something for everyone.”
The observatory eventually aims to hold one-off classes including on how to use a telescope and astro-photography. There are also plans to host events around what is happening in the night sky, including during key meteor showers.
“Sometimes people get (telescopes) for Christmas and they lie in a box because no one knows how to use them.
“Our website shows what’s happening in the night sky so you can see what you might want to look out for… There’s a lot you can see with the naked eye (at the centre) because it is so dark but we also have telescopes so you can see even more.
“When we’ve been doing staff training, it’s great to see people’s reactions as they’re looking through the telescope.
“Most people have a general interest (in astronomy). There’s lots of mythology behind constellations and where they get their names from. You find that once you learn a little bit you want to learn more.”
Built near the Neolithic Beaghmore Stone Circles, which some archaeologists believe were constructed to record the movements of the sun and moon, Ms Gordon said she hoped that lockdown will encourage families to visit the new observatory.
“The good thing about our landscape is we couldn’t be in a better place for avoiding Covid because you’re in the Sperrins and in the open air,” she said.
There are plans to build a self-guided walk from the stone circles to link in with the history of star-gazing in the area.
“It will be a walk with an interactive app so it will tell you what to see in the night sky and also point out archaeological points of significance along the way,” Ms Gordon said.
“It’s basically taking you from an ancient observatory to a modern observatory.”
The centre includes a free tourist information point, cafe and toilet facilities. It also has a specialist Changing Places toilet, including an adult-sized changing bench and hoist, to meet the needs of disabled people.
The centre is open 11am-7pm from Sunday to Thursday and 11am-9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
“We open slightly later in the day because we want to stay open until later in the evening to allow for the darker nights,” Ms Gordon said.
“The bookings have been fantastic. I think people are excited to experience somewhere new and come to the Sperrins. We can’t wait to get the doors open.”
She added: “Hopefully we won’t have to go into a second lockdown but all you can do is make provisions and go with whatever the current guidelines are. You have to have a flexible approach because you don’t know what’s round the corner… Just try and look for the positives where you can because you can find them.”
