Skibotn Astrophysical Observatory

Deep in Arctic Norway, roughly an hour from Tromsø, Skibotn Astrophysical Observatory sits in one of the driest and clearest corners of Northern Fennoscandia - ideal conditions for watching the aurora and the stars beyond it.

About Skibotn Astrophysical Observatory

The observatory is run by UiT The Arctic University of Norway (University of Tromsø) and has hosted observations since the 1960s. It's equipped with a 50cm reflector telescope, one of the largest in Norway, and in October 2023 a spectrograph was permanently installed to monitor the auroral spectrum across 400–700 nanometres at 30-second resolution. The site also serves as a training facility for star photometry.

Location & getting there

Skibotn sits at nearly 69.35°N in Arctic Norway, about an hour's drive from Tromsø. Its remote, dry inland location is precisely what makes it so useful for optical astronomy this far north.

Visiting Skibotn Astrophysical Observatory

As a university research and training facility, visiting arrangements are best confirmed directly with UiT The Arctic University of Norway before travelling.

See your named star from here

An observatory built to study the aurora and the deep sky above the Arctic is a striking place to picture your own star. Name a star to get its exact coordinates, or browse the catalogue of stars already named - any observatory's telescope can be pointed at those coordinates on a clear night.