The Jasper Planetarium & dark sky telescope tours — Attraction in Municipality of Jasper

I'd like to give some genuine constructive feedback only because I was genuinely very excited to participate in this. I'll go by sharing each part of the tour and my feedback on it, starting with the dome.

We booked our tour for the 29th of June, Tuesday. My wife and I had booked the planetarium dome and telescope tour combo for $65/ person. The dome experience was fine, and the presenter was great. A bit awkward to get people to participate but a good experience nonetheless. The one thing I will point out though is, you have to make sure you're not sitting to the chairs closest to the center, because the dome is built in a way that is meant to cover as much image as possible for people on both sides of the dome, that it becomes difficult if you're in the center trying to position your head to try to watch on image on one side, or seeing if the other image works better. Anyways, long story short, chairs in the center equals a nice neck ache.

When it was time to head back to the telescope and tents tour, we were split into 2 groups, one to the meteorite tent, and the other to the Aurora Borealis tour. Realistically speaking, I just think that this part of the tour is not for everyone. I was quite bored and really just wanted to quickly get to the telescope section as I was really anticipating that part of the tour. Again this is not to say that the tents are not for everyone, there were some parents and kids there that were genuinely interested and participated lots, but it just wasn't for me.

And finally, we got to the part I was most looking for, the telescopes and live footage on the 4K TV screens, and the best way I can explain this is.... Underwhelming... And here's why! So the first telescope we were sent to, I can't remember the name of the presenter, but he was a bit of an older gentleman compared to the other presenter. He wore a black shirt and had a female co-worker helping him out. He was kind of all over the place with the presentation and I really wasn't sure where the presentation was going with him. We saw a bright start on the screen, and then another bright star... And maybe another? Anyways, I was a bit disappointed because I thought we'd see maybe, idk, a planet? Something with more detail? Even if it was the moon I would've felt more satisfied. That day we were going through the heat wave and we had completely clear skies, so I guess I was just expecting a bit more.

The second telescope the presenter was a bit more focused, I don't remember his name, but he was wearing a white shirt and was a bit younger. With this telescope we did see some star cluster, the ring nebula, and I think some more stars? Anyways, it was a bit more satisfying, but my biggest feedback was the amount of time. We zoomed through these telescopes extremely quickly that I felt like we barely had the chance to see more things in the sky. I really wanted to maybe see a planet, or more nebulas, but it all just felt very rushed and like they wanted to kick us out as soon as they could. I really think for the amount that we end up paying, even just 10 mins more on the telescopes, and I would've felt a bit more satisfied.

In conclusion, I think the efforts of the team there are recognizable. I'm sure it is not easy to set that entire tour together, and I very much respect the efforts, but, maybe a big issue with this is the advertising? I feel like I was expecting one thing, and got something completely different? They put a lot of emphasis on the telescopes, but as mentioned before, the amount of time you spend with them is quite disappointing. I understand that they pride themselves in being the more economic tours, but even if that is the case, I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a tiny bit ripped off, because it is a whole lot of money for a very very little amount of time.

I hope the team can take this feedback and think of what areas the tour...

I'm an experienced amateur astronomer who used to work with pros, so take this review for what it's worth; I'm probably more critical than most people would be. The good: staff are all enthusiastic, and after being clouded out the first night I was able to use my "rain check" the next night, which was better. If you're going to be spending a few nights in the area, recommend you do this experience early on in case you get clouded out, so you can come back on a better night. Telescope Ted was great, I spent most of my time hanging around with him, he used to be an operator of a professional telescope in Hawaii and is a very experienced amateur astronomer himself, plus he really knew how to engage with the guests. Ted was able to quickly find and show/describe many interesting star clusters and other deep space objects; when he wasn't busy doing that, he gave me a close-up tour of the scope, camera and observatory dome they use to capture the digital images they display on two large screens. I was especially interested in the dome as I need to rebuild my own observatory, and might consider buying the same type they have.

The not-so-good, for which I deduct a star: the peppy young woman who gave the planetarium show sounded like she was reading from a script, which is understandable, but she didn't sound like she fully understood the material itself. I almost choked when she said that Polaris is the 6th brightest star in the sky (it's the 48th brightest), and a couple other misleading statements, so they should have that presentation fact-checked. The telescope with the camera was not properly aligned (I was told it had recently been kicked), so they weren't able to find/show a lot of celestial objects with it, and resorted to showing pictures they had taken on previous nights; they really should fix that (it should only take them an hour or so to align it on a good night, after the crowds have left). Finally, I find it misleading that they advertise "the biggest telescope in the Rockies", the scopes they use are good, and more than big enough for the purpose, but the biggest I believe is Ted's 16" aperture, which is of course not even in the same league as professional scopes, and amateur scopes of 20-24" (and even 30"!) aperture are common, so their claim is almost certainly wrong. Finally, they should tell people how to dress warmly before they arrive (hint: lots of layers, many more than you think you will need), I see many reviews by people who say it was too cold to enjoy the observing.

All that said, I liked the experience, especially the telescopes and my 1-on-1 talks with Ted and others, and you...

We travelled to Jasper specifically to do the dark sky telescope tour and we were not disappointed. On a chilly night, we were met with friendly staff and very welcome complimentary hot chocolate or coffee before being guided into the huge inflatable dome for an introduction. Our guide, Will, was incredibly informative and filled us with even more enthusiasm than we'd arrived with. The journey up on the sky tram was smooth and easy, with impressive views of Jasper's twinkling lights under the dark skies. Our driver was cheery and engaging. At the top, another guide gave us some additional information and everyone we spoke to encouraged us to approach the telescope guides to chat and to ask them any questions we might have. The lights were low but the boardwalk was easy to negotiate. We visited all the telescopes available and I found it particularly thrilling to see Saturn, complete with rings, live, with my own eye, rather than on a TV screen or photograph. I felt the same about Jupiter: at the time I looked, I could see the dark rings and four of the moons. It was quite a wonderfully surreal experience. All of the guides were super friendly and all of them were incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subjects. I must give a special honourable mention to Will though: after the dome introduction he had hotfooted it up to the peak, ready to entertain and inform with his talk about meteors. I held some space rock, looked at a slither of moon rock and asked endless questions: he has the patience of a saint as well as an in-depth knowledge and an impressive passion for his subject. I think the experience would have been fun and interesting in any event but the staff lifted the occasion to a whole other level. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed and it felt like a real privilege to be able to speak freely to guides who displayed such enthusiasm and expertise. Two points of feedback: the 'desserts' available were overpriced and not ideal to eat outside. It was fiddly and a bit irritating to have to juggle a box and a fork in the cold: I would much rather have had the chance to buy something handheld, like a cookie, a pastry or a cupcake. please have a think about how you could make the inflatable dome - and in fact the whole experience - more accessible for those with physical disabilities. I am deducting no stars for these two feedback points as the actual dark sky telescope tour itself was truly wonderful. Many thanks to Will and to all the...