Sonnenborgh Observatory

Very interesting observatory with friendly stuff. Unfortunately only limited things to see. Around am hour should be good enough.

An observatory and museum, 2 in 1 function for astronomical sciences education. Located in the middle of Zochers Park. We should walk a little from the nearest street. It was so lonesome in the weekday afternoon, then I could explored the facilities freely just by myself! The domed observatories here acclaimed as one of the oldest in Netherlands, built since 15 century. However, Sonnenborgh as a volunteering organisation focuses more on science education rather than research. There are plenty of workshop and experiments in general sciences, not only astronomy. Visitors no need to wait for a tour guide, they can use the interactive tablet lended by the staff. Unfortunately the telescopes only open for public observation at certain time like in Sunday (the night session period open in October-March). As a historical building for astronomy development, I didn't expect that Sonnenborgh have no connection with the oldest observatory in Indonesia which built by the Dutch people too (according to the volunteer staff in charge). Yet, for an ordinary visitors who are beginners in astronomy, this place is so wonderful and informative. You can buy some astronomical stuffs/merchandise too before leave.

Place was cool. Lady at the front desk treated my son and I markedly different than she treated the Dutch family in front of us. Warm and smiley with that family. Straight face and business like with us, telling my 9-year-old son “Could you put that back?” when he had grabbed an astronaut pen. So I said, “Hey, I’ll buy the pen.” Because like… they are for sale. Just cold. And rude. Bad start to our time there.

Loved it, wish there was an English tour walking us through the history and science discoveries of it. The climate audio tour was a bit for the younger-aged, but the perspective of migratory birds through the buckets and why their ecosystem population monitoring is important was an awesome point. I wish there was a bigger gift store and cafe associated, but the lecture hall was nice to site and watch the video through too.

Awesome observatory!! Loved it. The history. For stargazing, you need to book a month in advance (check the website). For museum, tickets are available all the time. They also provide a handy tablet for tour which is included in the ticket. Even the visually disabled people can visit. They provide a guide.

Amazing observatory! Great place to visit if you are interested in astronomy. The collection is mainly focused on solar astrophysics and the important role that the university of Utrecht played in this. The old observatory is build on a bastion (defense work) which you can look at below. Also there used to be a botanical garden at the top. There are many nice telescopes in the observatory and there is a very nice library. On Sunday at 14:00 and 15:30 you can look through the solar telescopes. The museum accepts museumcard.

Cosy museum. On Sundays they do observing of the sun. Especially worthwhile if it’s sunny weather. They have a lovely set of telescopes. And a beautiful mechanical planetarium. You can get a tablet that has information and interactive apps in the museum. The volunteers are very enthusiastic and love to answer all your questions. On rainy days they offer a planetarium show in a half dome where they project the night sky. A very nice experience as well. If you have a museum card you can just walk in!

Small but very informative museum located in a quiet park not far from the other museums. A must visit if you're keen on astronomy - they've got a huge telescope!