Visitor info

– Special openings

The radio telescope will be opened during the following public activities. In case of special openings, sometimes other entrance fees or free access apply.

= Annual national public activities next year 2019

• The Netherlands watches stars, Saturday, January 12, 2019, 19:00-22:00 hours
  – 100 years of IAU (International Astronomical Union) will start January 2019 with a long weekend of stargazing
  – on Saturday night, January 12, the radio telescope is open for demonstration and in clear sky there are telescopes for stargazing outside
  – entrance radio telescope € 2 and youth € 1; stargazing free
  – more info in our blog: Special opening January 12, 2019
• National Stargazing Days, weekend, March 15, 16 and 17, 2019
  (date and time that the radio telescope is open will be announced later)
• Heritage Days, weekend, September 7 and 8, 2019
  (date and time that the radio telescope is open will be announced later)
• Science Weekend, weekend, October 5 and 6, 2019
  (date and time that the radio telescope is open will be announced later)
• Dark-Sky Night, Saturday, October 26, 2019
  (time that the radio telescope is open will be announced later)

– Summer-Sunday-afternoon opening

In July and August, the radio telescope is open almost every Sunday afternoon, subject to sufficient volunteers. A tour starts every half hour. The tours do not last longer than an hour.
(dates and times for 2019 will be announced later)

The tours begin at the Muller house, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 6.
There you pay your entrance fee and you get a short story about the radio telescope.
Then you go to the radio telescope under the supervision of a tour guide.
In the radio telescope, the guides and telescope operators give explanations with a demonstration.

There is room for up to twenty visitors per guided tour.
You cannot make a reservation.

In case of failure in the equipment, we give a guided tour without a demonstration.
In case of special weather conditions such as thunderstorms and very strong winds, the tours will be cancelled.

– Schools and students

Special guided tours are possible for schools. For more information and requesting a guided tour, please read the page about guided tours. If you want to ask another question please contact us with the contact form.

Secondary education Students can do their own research or experiment with the radio telescope, for example for a practical assignment. For more information and requesting this, read the education page.

– Guided group tours on request

Guided tours for groups are possible on request. Real observations are made during a tour. For example, it is possible to listen live to a pulsar or to measure the velocity of hydrogen clouds.

In group tours, depending on the interest of the group, emphasis can be placed on the technology of the telescope, on astronomy, or on amateur radio applications. The telescope is also interesting from the point of view of heritage. For more information and requesting a guided tour, please read the page about guided tours.

ATTENTION 1: The entrance fee depends on the number of group members together, but is always at least € 50.00.
ATTENTION 2: In principle we do not organize tours on request during the months July, August, and September and the first week of October. In that period the radio telescope can be visited during the Summer-Sunday-afternoon opening, the Heritage Days and the Science Weekend.