Clayhole observatory

Clayhole Observatory is a small, privately run amateur observatory in Jokela, Finland, roughly 40 km north of Helsinki.

About Clayhole observatory

The observatory grew up in stages: a permanent pier was set in place in the summer of 2003, a warm room followed later that year, and a proper observatory building was completed in the summer of 2005. It's equipped with an 8-inch Meade LX-200 GPS telescope and a Starlight Xpress MX916 CCD camera, a setup typical of a dedicated amateur imaging site.

Location & getting there

Jokela lies in southern Finland, around 40 km north of Helsinki, at a latitude where dark winter skies favour astrophotography. As a private observatory, it isn't a general public visitor attraction; check with the operator directly, via the official site, before planning any visit.

See your named star from here

Every star named through Star Register comes with exact celestial coordinates. A telescope like the one at Clayhole Observatory, with a GPS-guided mount, can be pointed straight at those coordinates to bring a named star into view. You can look up any named star's position in the star catalogue.