Wed 21 Oct
Waxing gibbous, 79% litBright moon all session
Meet 18:45 · back 22:40
3 of 12 seats left
Plate of Sat 31 Oct – Exposure 11 h 20 min
One night, exposed.
Guided stargazing for twelve, 2,140 m up in the Swiss Alps. Behind this text: every real star of the next dark night, traced by our camera. Scroll back to dusk and live it.
Next dark-sky night
Saturday 31 October Moon down all session Meet 3 of 12 seats left
CHF 48 adults · CHF 24 under 16 · private telescope session +CHF 30
Lights out
The minibus leaves the valley station at and climbs 11 km of forest road to the observatory meadow. By the time you step out, the last light is behind Piz Lumen and your guide switches every lamp to red.
Your eyes need about 25 minutes. Pupils open from 2 to 7 mm and the rods in your retina, blind all day, take over. One white phone screen resets the clock, so we hand out red film for yours.
- Group
- 12 guests, 1 guide
- Altitude
- 2,140 m (7,021 ft), around −3 °C by 20:00 in November
- Duration
- 3 h 55 min, minibus up and down included
After full dark adaptation on a moonless night you can see stars down to magnitude 6: about 1,874 catalogue stars above the horizon at once.
Without a telescope
Before anyone touches an eyepiece, your guide walks you round the sky. Three things to find first:
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Polaris 433 light-years
The one star on this plate that doesn't trail. Every other star turns around it, 15° an hour.
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The Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million light-years
A grey smudge high in the east, and the most distant thing you will ever see with your own eyes.
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The Pleiades 444 light-years
Six or seven stars to most eyes. After 25 minutes in the dark, often nine.
Through the telescope
Inside the dome waits a 600 mm reflector on a fork mount. On autumn nights it shows Saturn and its moons, the Ring Nebula in Lyra, and Albireo, a double star of gold and blue.
- Aperture
- 600 mm (24 in)
- Focal length
- 2,400 mm, f/4
- Magnification
- 96× to 300×
Private telescope session +CHF 30
Twenty minutes at the 600 mm after the group tour, with only your party at the eyepiece and the guide steering to what you ask for. Two per night, per booking. Add it when you book.
The moon decides
At your group rides down and the camera stays open until dawn. On any night, one thing decides how much of this you will see: a full moon lights the sky like a street lamp and drowns all but the brightest few hundred stars.
Choose your night
Twelve seats, three nights a week and every new moon. CHF 48 adults, CHF 24 under 16, and a private telescope session for CHF 30 per booking. You pay at the valley station, nothing in advance. Cloudy? We decide by 14:00 on the day and move you to another night or cancel at no cost.
Each mark is a seat: filled ones are taken. “Dark sky” means the moon is below the horizon, or a thin crescent, for most of the session.
That night isn't on the plate.
We don't run on that date, or it has already passed. The nearest nights with seats:
October 2026
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Fri 23 Oct
Waxing gibbous, 93% litBright moon all session
Meet 18:45 · back 22:40
1 seat left
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Sat 24 Oct
Waxing gibbous, 97% litBright moon all session
Meet 18:45 · back 22:40
Sold out
Sold out
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Wed 28 Oct
Waning gibbous, 91% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:35 · back 21:30
4 of 12 seats left
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Fri 30 Oct
Waning gibbous, 74% litMoon rises 20:38
Meet 17:35 · back 21:30
7 of 12 seats left
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Sat 31 Oct
Dark skyWaning gibbous, 63% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:30 · back 21:25
3 of 12 seats left
November 2026
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Wed 4 Nov
Dark skyWaning crescent, 20% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:25 · back 21:20
2 of 12 seats left
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Fri 6 Nov
Dark skyWaning crescent, 6% litMoonless all session
Meet 17:25 · back 21:20
2 of 12 seats left
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Sat 7 Nov
Dark skyWaning crescent, 2% litMoonless all session
Meet 17:25 · back 21:20
Sold out
Sold out
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Sun 8 Nov
Dark skyNew moon, 0% litMoonless all session
Meet 17:20 · back 21:15
1 seat left
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Wed 11 Nov
Dark skyWaxing crescent, 6% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:20 · back 21:15
6 of 12 seats left
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Fri 13 Nov
Dark skyWaxing crescent, 18% litMoon sets 19:32
Meet 17:15 · back 21:10
5 of 12 seats left
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Sat 14 Nov
Waxing crescent, 26% litMoon sets 20:41
Meet 17:15 · back 21:10
6 of 12 seats left
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Wed 18 Nov
Waxing gibbous, 64% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:15 · back 21:10
7 of 12 seats left
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Fri 20 Nov
Waxing gibbous, 82% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:10 · back 21:05
9 of 12 seats left
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Sat 21 Nov
Waxing gibbous, 90% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:10 · back 21:05
8 of 12 seats left
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Wed 25 Nov
Waning gibbous, 98% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:10 · back 21:05
10 of 12 seats left
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Fri 27 Nov
Waning gibbous, 87% litMoon rises 19:42
Meet 17:10 · back 21:05
6 of 12 seats left
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Sat 28 Nov
Dark skyWaning gibbous, 78% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
6 of 12 seats left
December 2026
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Wed 2 Dec
Dark skyWaning crescent, 34% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
4 of 12 seats left
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Fri 4 Dec
Dark skyWaning crescent, 16% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
6 of 12 seats left
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Sat 5 Dec
Dark skyWaning crescent, 9% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
7 of 12 seats left
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Tue 8 Dec
Dark skyNew moon, 0% litMoonless all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
7 of 12 seats left
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Wed 9 Dec
Dark skyNew moon, 1% litMoonless all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
10 of 12 seats left
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Fri 11 Dec
Dark skyWaxing crescent, 7% litMoon down all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
9 of 12 seats left
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Sat 12 Dec
Dark skyWaxing crescent, 12% litMoon sets 19:30
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
6 of 12 seats left
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Wed 16 Dec
First quarter, 47% litMoon up all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
7 of 12 seats left
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Fri 18 Dec
Waxing gibbous, 68% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:05 · back 21:00
11 of 12 seats left
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Sat 19 Dec
Waxing gibbous, 77% litBright moon all session
Meet 17:10 · back 21:05
7 of 12 seats left