Astronomy Cruise on the Norwegian Coast
Experience a unique blend of natural beauty and astronomical exploration. Enjoy insightful lectures from astronomers and deepen your understanding of the universe. Observe star constellations and phenomena like the Northern Lights without the interference of light pollution with Havila Voyages.
Details
- Requires adding "Astronomy Sailing" addon when booking.
- Can be added to existing bookings via MyVoyage.
- All lectures are performed in english.
- 2025: From €300 / $320 / £250 per person.
- 2026: From €320 / $340 / £265 per person.
Departure dates 2025:
21 Jan, 23 Feb, 15 Oct, 14 Nov.
Departure dates 2026:
9 Mar, 2 Oct (details TBN).
Meet our experts from the Royal Astronomical Society and find your voyage
Get to know our experts and secure your spot for the departures listed below for each lecturer (each lecturer will be present on different sailings). Note that enrolling requires adding "Astronomy Sailing" addon to your voyage during the booking process. Can also be added to existing bookings via MyVoyage. Listed dates refer to departures from Bergen.
Ian Ridpath
Ian Ridpath is a internationally respected writer and lecturer.
Ian Ridpath serves as the editor of the esteemed Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy and has penned a widely popular series of night sky guides tailored for beginners. He is a valued member of the Royal Astronomical Society’s outreach team, and has been guiding astronomy enthusiasts from all over the world for a long time to witness the Northern Lights in Norway for over 15 years, since 2010.
Lecture subjects
- Welcome to Norway: Introduction to the voyage and insight into what lies ahead.
- Fantastic Northern Lights: Wonders of the auroras – exploring their visual splendor, associated legends, and the science behind them.
- Stories of the Stars: constellations, their significance in myths, art, and positions in the sky.
- When We Walked on the Moon: The Apollo missions.
- The Planets: Our neighbour worlds in space.
- Comets, the Ghostly Wanderers: Learn about comets and their voyages through the cosmos.
- Eclipses of the Sun and Moon: The dynamics and importance of both solar and lunar eclipses.
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Professor Richard Holdaway
Richard Holdaway is a British engineer and space scientist.
With more than 50 years of experience in international space programmes, he has contributed to missions in Space Science and Earth Observation with NASA, ESA, and agencies across China, Russia, Europe, and South America. Formerly Director of RAL Space at Harwell, he is now Chairman of Stratospheric Platforms Ltd and Cambridge Space Associates. A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, he serves as Visiting Professor at the Universities of Southampton and Beijing, and at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona. He has sat on numerous national and international committees and frequently lectures at universities, professional bodies, and aboard research-focused voyages.
Lecture subjects
- The Global Space Programme - How we got to where we are now: 500 BC to 2025 AD. The first Satellite launch was nearly 70 years ago, but the space programme is much older than that. This first talk on Space will go right back to its very beginnings and take us through the first rocket launch (in China!), then via Sputnik to the early manned programmes of Gagarin & Shepard, the Apollo Programme, the Space Shuttle & Space Station, Hubble, the launch of JWST, and more.
- The Universe - Exploring the Stars, Black holes, Dark Matter, Dark Energy & answering the question “Are we Alone”? How big & old is the Universe, how many stars are there, what techniques we use to study them? What are black holes, dark matter, and dark energy? You’ll hear the definitive answer to the question “Are we Alone” These and other issues around the Universe will be discussed. Some of the answers will surprise you, so come along and find out!
- The Solar System - Our Sun & The Planets, The Moon, Comets & Asteroids. Today we look at the Sun and each of the 8½ Planets in our Solar System and see how alike they are and yet how they differ. We explore Mars to see why there is so much interest in sending humans there. We marvel at recent photos of Pluto and examine what we know about other mysterious objects in our solar system including asteroids and comets.
- Looking down on Planet Earth - what we have learned about our way of life. Satellite technology impacts us all every day. This talk discusses what we can see on Earth from Space; how satellites aid emergency relief during disasters; how satellite imagery helps city planning, security, marine safety; how they help us monitor the weather world-wide. How the Aurora forms and why the Apollo 16/17 astronauts nearly died, and what James Bond can really see on Earth from Space?
- Climate Change from Space - The Facts & The Fiction. We are bombarded daily in the media, by politicians, and by “celebrities” on the dangers of climate change. Some of the information is correct, but much of it isn’t. Some of the information is deliberately misleading and results in the wrong solutions. In this talk I will ignore ideology and give a balanced summary of the facts (including data from space), the fiction, and the real solutions.
- The Future of Global Space. What’s next? Two new Space races and more! Today we look to the future. This talk reviews early results from the Webb telescope, we will examine the prospects for the first human missions to return to the Moon and Mars and speculate on what might be further ahead such as Space Elevators, Space Tourism, possibilities for travel to the Stars and more incredible journeys.
- Oops, that shouldn’t have happened - things that have gone wrong Space. The global space program employs some of the brightest scientists and engineers in the world. Much of the science and technology is right at the cutting edge of the possible. We have stood in awe at the success of Apollo, Planetary Exploration, and monitoring of Planet Earth. But sometimes things go wrong – we’ll look at some examples, some tragic and some just plain dumb.
- Back to the Moon, and On to Mars. It is now over 50 years since humans last walked on the Moon. It is nearly 50 years since the first robotic landing on Mars, yet no humans have visited the red planet. All that is about to change dramatically. It’s going to be highly competitive and not necessarily friendly! This talk will explore who is planning to go; why they are going; when they will go; and what problems they will face.
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John Maclean
John Maclean is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He is also in the Royal Geographical Society as well as being an experienced Science Communicator in the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics.John is also an award winning Astrophotographer and an experienced Northern Lights guide. His research field is Asteroids and Cometary science and he is a researcher and member of the UK Meteor Observation Network. He was part of the team who were joint winners of the 2022 RAS group award for Geophysics. John has held roles as Ambassador for NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, Co-ordinator of the Comet Investigation Comittee and is a BBC astronomy correspondent.
Lecture subjects
- Celestial Lights! - Aurora beautifully illustrated talk (images by aurora expert Andy Green) about the phenomena known as the "Celestial Lights". We will explore the source of these colourful, dancing lights and the mythology attributed to them as well as looking at how the aurora is driven by Space Weather.
- VIKING ASTRONOMY – FACT AND LEGEND In this talk we look at how the Viking explorers used the Sun and the night sky to free themselves from coastal waters. We will examine the Norse constellations and the myths attached to them. We will also look at how the Viking used the legendary “Sunstones” to navigate.
- Journey through the Solar System. A close look at our galactic address, how the Solar System was formed with a close look at the planets. An informative talk illustrated with the latest images of our Solar System and wonderful animations.
- Hello? Is anyone out there? ( Aliens and Exoplanets)The first question astronomers are asked is, "do you believe in aliens?" In this fun but enlightening talk we look at the possibilities of life in the Universe and the way aliens have been imagined by Hollywood and others. Be prepared for some intriguing questions and sensible answers with a large lump of "tongue in cheek."
- OMG! We're all going to die (Asteroids, Comets and Meteors)A scary and humorous talk about the dangers we face from Near Earth Objects. This talk will have you gasping and laughing in equal measure!
- BANG! There goes the Universe.The history of the Universe from beginning to end in just 45 minutes! What do we know about the birth of the Universe, how it expanded and evolved and how it will end. Learn bout Einsteins "greatest blunder" and the men and women who discovered the secrets our existence.
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