Stonyhurst Observatory

Stonyhurst Observatory is a scientific research station at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire that houses meteorological instruments and weather monitoring equipment in a Victorian building on the campus grounds. The facility contains instruments for measuring temperature and observing the sun.

The station was founded in 1838 and rebuilt in 1866, and it holds temperature records that began in 1846. These continuous daily measurements represent one of the longest such records in the world.

The facility developed the Stonyhurst System of heliographic coordinates in the 1800s to map features on the sun. This coordinate system became a tool that solar observers around the world still use today.

The observatory sits on the Stonyhurst College grounds, where visitors can see the Victorian building and some of the scientific equipment. The best time to visit is during the college's open hours when weather permits clear viewing.

Scientists here created transparent Stonyhurst disks to track and measure the movement of sunspots across the solar surface. These innovative tools became a standard method for solar observers worldwide.

Website: https://stonyhurst.ac.uk

GPS coordinates: 53.80000,-2.50000

Latest update: December 12, 2025 14:21