Creswell Crags, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, The Outsider Artists Collective and Backlit Gallery, is bringing a planetarium into a cave at Creswell Crags over the weekend of 5th and 6th October (4pm-8pm).

The event will be led by Dr Daniel Brown and Daniel Turner, who will make the rocky ceiling of the limestone cave come alive with mythical creatures and stellar constellations, in an immersive experience encouraging people to both look into the night sky, and draw inspiration from it.

The planetarium will be a digital projection created via the software Stellarium. Stellarium is free, interactive and easy to use on PCs and smart devices. Visitors will learn how to use it, so they can continue to explore the night sky from home. It allows the simulation of the sky at any location on Earth, or in the solar system, at any time: including during the last Ice Age when nomadic hunters took shelter at Creswell Crags. It is believed to be the only chance to see the night sky in a cave in the whole of the UK.

The night sky was undoubtedly important to our prehistoric ancestors, and could even have inspired their art and creativity. Creswell Crags is the home to the oldest art in Britain in the form of Ice Age rock art engravings in the caves dating back nearly 12,500 years, making this event very relevant to the site.

Weather allowing, visitors to the event will also have the opportunity to explore the sky using telescopes, including safely observing the Sun, and to participate in an art activity facilitated by The Outsider Artists Collective.

Associate Professor Dr Brown, who is an astronomer and responsible for the Nottingham Trent University observatory, described how unique this event will be: “This environment will make mythical creatures from the sky come alive in the depth of a cave. You can see constellations that might have inspired the peoples creating cave paintings and carvings millennia ago. Visitors will also have a chance to create their own sky drawings inspired by their sky experiences, imagery and poetry.”

Paul Baker, Executive Director of Creswell Heritage Trust, said: “Our visitors will have the chance to experience something very special in our cave, to be inspired by the night sky in the way our ancestors were, all through the use of modern technology. It’s beyond our imaginations.

“We are delighted to be working in collaboration with NTU, with whom we have a strong partnership, but also with The Outsider Artists Collective and Backlit: Creswell Crags is a site where humanity and nature have interacted since prehistory, and their interaction found an outlet in art, in making a mark, so this seems very appropriate.”

To book call 01909 720378 or go to www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/constellations-in-the-caves-tickets-73404042467