Contact
Get in touch
Fourteen people work here and we answer our own email. Expect a reply within two working days, or the same day if it is about a booking this week.
Directly
Office and bookings
+44 1229 717 400
Monday to Friday, 09:00–16:30
Post
VELA Observatory & Sky Centre
Hallow Fell Road
Ravenglass
Cumbria CA18 1SQ
Where that is
54.4832° N, 3.1104° W
612 m above sea level
On the night
If you are already on your way to a telescope night and something has gone wrong — the road, the weather, your train — call the office number and it diverts to the duty astronomer after 18:00.
Weather cancellations
You do not need to contact us. The decision is made by 16:00 and you will get an email and a text either way, including when it is going ahead.
Press and media
We are glad to talk to journalists, and glad to host filming, but the terrace is genuinely dark and a lighting rig on it would end the session for twenty-four paying visitors. Daytime filming is straightforward; night filming needs planning and a conversation.
High-resolution images of the site, the instruments and our own astronomical data are available on request for editorial use.
For anything with a deadline inside 48 hours, call the office rather than emailing.