The Spaceguard Centre

The Centre is dedicated to the study of Near Earth Objects – asteroids and comets that could potentially hit the Earth. It is part of the international project set up to find and track them, and to plan ways to stop such a catastrophe happening. You might have seen the movies “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon”, but in reality smaller NEOs hit the Earth more often than most people think. The Spaceguard Centre offers the opportunity for people to find out about the possibility of a real “Deep Impact”, and what, in real life, could be done to stop a major impact event.

With a host of intriguing exhibits that include meteorites, samples from impact craters and satellite imagery the Spaceguard Centre is a fascinating place for visitors of all ages and experience. The guided tour takes you around the facilities at the Spaceguard Centre that include a fully equipped and unique dome with a number of telescopes, including a large 13-inch refractor and a robotic 14″ patrol telescope. What they do and how and why they do it are all explained, plus there is all of the most up to date information on the Solar System. The Centre also has its own small planetarium.

The Spaceguard Centre also hosts one of the elements of the “Spaced Out” project – the largest model of the Solar System in the world. With the Sun at Jodrell Bank we have a representation of the centaur “Asbolus”, a strange object that orbits the Sun between Saturn and Uranus.

As the National Near Earth Object Information Centre, the Spaceguard Centre is the country’s leading authority on the cosmic impact hazard. Come and find out what it’s all about!