Telescopes
Important: Telescope viewing is NOT a guaranteed part of a visit to the Space Centre. We are an interactive museum and that's what you're paying for. Sometimes we do have telescopes operating but please treat this as a bonus if it happens, not an expectation.
We run two types of telescope viewing sessions: Daytime and night-time. Both rely on clear skies so please note that telescopes cannot see through clouds!
Daytime sessions
We have a solar telescope for safe viewing of the Sun. This is dependent upon both clear skies and solar activity. If there's really nothing interesting happening on the Sun (sunspots, flares, etc) then we don't bother setting this telescope up because there's not much to see and it results in disappointment.
We also use solar viewers (AKA eclipse glasses) that do not magnify the Sun but allow people of all ages to see the Sun easily. This is especially useful for large groups, and can be used more often than the telescope.
Night-time sessions
We occasionally run evening telescope viewing sessions but because we are located among street lights, our location is not ideal. We're limited to the Moon, planets and a few other things. We do sometimes travel and run observing sessions at other locations. The best way to stay informed about our telescope sessions is to follow us on Facebook.
For the best telescope viewing we actually recommend Hamilton Observatory (www.has.org.nz).