Description
The Observatory Science Centre is a hands-on science attraction located at Herstmonceux, East Sussex, on the historic site of the former Royal Greenwich Observatory. It is one of the UK’s leading interactive science centres, designed to make science fun, accessible, and engaging for all ages. The centre welcomes families, children, school groups, and anyone curious about science and space.
The centre features over 100 interactive exhibits spread across themed galleries, allowing visitors to explore physics, astronomy, light, colour, and the Earth through hands-on play. Highlights include the Awesome Orrery, a moving model of the solar system; the Plasma Globe in the Light and Colour gallery; and the Earthquake shake-table exhibit, where visitors can test building designs. Visitors can also explore historic observatory domes and telescopes, enjoy the outdoor Discovery Park and Water Planet, and attend evening stargazing events with expert guides.
Standard admission prices are £13.00 for adults and children, or £14.30 with Gift Aid. Birthday parties for children aged 6+ cost £16.50 per child and include full access to exhibits, outdoor areas (weather permitting), and a private birthday tea served in a telescope dome, with free entry for parents and additional adults included per group.
The Observatory Science Centre offers a fun, educational, and inspiring experience for visitors of all ages. Its unique combination of historic observatory buildings and modern interactive science exhibits makes learning exciting and memorable. With clear pricing, excellent facilities, and a strong charitable mission, it is a standout family attraction in East Sussex.
Features
- Paid
- Host birthday parties: Yes
Features
Our Awesome Orrery
- When you visit our ‘Domes of Discovery’ gallery, don’t forget to look up! Mounted next to the massive Congo Schmidt telescope, you’ll find an intriguing celestial mechanism… Simply put, an orrery is a moving model of our solar system.
- Ours shows the orbits of the major planets around the Sun, as well as showing the Moon in orbit around the Earth. Our orrery has a clockwork mechanism with 52 brass gears, so that the planets orbit around the Sun at roughly the right speeds in relation to each other. You’ll notice how the inner planets move a lot faster than the outer planets!
Solid, liquid, gas…plasma!
- Explore our popular Plasma Globe exhibit in the ‘Light and Colour’ gallery. Imagine how a lightning bolt travels from a thundercloud down to earth. The glass sphere of the plasma globe is filled with a mixture of gases, which are turned into plasma by creating a high electrical voltage on the small ball in the centre.
- Electricity then flows from the centre through the plasma to the outer glass, which we see as moving streams of light. When you touch the glass, you make it slightly easier for the electricity to flow to earth (as it now flows through you instead of the outside of the globe) and so a tendril of light will appear to move towards your hand and will start to glow brighter.
Shake it off!
- Discover our popular Earthquake exhibit in the ‘Earth & Beyond’ gallery. Design, Build, Test, Learn! Have you ever felt an earthquake? They are caused by the Earth’s surface shaking, and some can be very strong, so it’s important to make sure our buildings can withstand them.
- Our interactive Earthquake exhibit is a scaled-down version of a ‘shake table’ that engineers use to simulate earthquakes and test the safety of different building designs.
What’s on
- Fascinated by the night sky or never really looked up? We can offer a breath-taking evening of stargazing through our incredible telescopes accompanied by our friendly experts. visit the website to view the latest events.
9.11 miles
