On Friday January 20th, almost a week after its hugely succesful “Skywatch” at the Brewery Arts Centre (see a previous post), the Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal held our second event in support of the BBC’s “Stargazing Live” programmes – an “Astronomy Night” at The Box, the new lecture and film venue, run by Kendal College, close to Kendal Museum.

It was the first time Eddington AS had held an event in the venue, and everyone was very impressed with its huge screen, state of the art projection system and facilities. And although more than a few people had a hard time actually finding the place, more than 90 people came along to listen to our lecture and learn all about telescopes, astronomy software, meteorites and more.

As people began to filter into the hall, a “telescope corner” began to take shape as one EAS member after another set up their telescope to the left hand side of the enormous screen. And as they did so they were watched over by a very special guest, who you might recognise…

After a very generous introduction by Kendal Museum’s Anna Hall – a great friend to the EAS – the Society Secretary, Stuart Atkinson gave an hour-long “Tourist Guideto the Universe”, taking the audience on a breathtaking tourof the fascinating worlds of our Solar System and then out into the universe beyond. Following the lecture, while some members of  the Astronomy Night audience enjoyed looking at all the telescopes, asking their owners questions about them, and watching demonstrations of astronomy software in a side-room, others went to see, and hold, some of the collection of rare and valuable meteorites brought along to the event.

Everyone agreed afterwards that the night was an outstanding success, and everything laid out on the “goodies table” – Stargazing Live star map booklets and stickers, equipment catalogues from Lamberts in Lancaster, and back issues of astronomy magazines – had gone by the end of the evening. Now we’re hoping that at least a few of the 90 or so people who came along to our “Astronomy Night” will come along top an EAS meeting too, and maybe even join; but with getting on for a regular meeting attendance of almost 50, if more than a few do, we’re going to run out of room…!

Here are some photos from the event…

The view from the back row of The Box’s seating – look at the size of that screen!! And who’s that lurking behind the telescope on the left there..?

The audience begins to grow…

A very impressive “telescope gallery” was assembled, under the watchful eye of You Know Who…

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Just cross your fingers!

Well, happy to be able to report that it was a *fantastic* success! The weather held for us – little bit of mist crept in, but not enough to spoil things – and thanks to brilliant publicity support from our friends at The Westmorland Gazette (thanks Adrian!) and BBC Radio Cumbria (thanks Kev and Caroline!), a large crowd of people descended on us at the Brewery Arts Centre to take part in our “Skywatch”.

I arrived at the Brewery very early – half past five – to a) check out the gardens, see if anything had changed, b) grab some pictues of Venus, shining in the twilight, and c) check with the Brewery staff about the level of outside lighting we would have to deal with later in the evening. I was happy to find that as far as “a” was concerned, the garden hadn’t changed – no huge sculptures or new tables and chairs had appeared in our observing area! – and “b” was a success too, as I managed to get some really nice pictures of Earth’s so-called “twin” blazing away in a gap in the trees to the west. And my fears about the lighting outside the popular arts centre were allayed when the House Manager came out to chat to me, and told me that he would be keeping the light to an absolute minimum to support our event. Result!! There are some big, bad floodlights outside the Brewery, and I had been really quite worried that if they came on during our event they would blind everyone, but with those lights left switched off, and only a few vital lights left on to, rightly, ensure the safety of BAC visitors, the garden was left dark enough for us to hold our event, only one bright car park loght preventing the site from being truly dark (but we can work on that next time!).

Here’s one of the pics I took of Venus with just my phone… I’ll post others taken with my proper camera later…

So, back home fora  while to wrap up warm, send out a last flurry of emails, and then grab several cups of hot tea before braving the biting cold and setting up for the Skywatch!

When I got back to the Brewery at 6.15 there were already people milling about, obviously waiting for the Skywatch to begin, which was a very encouraging start to the evening, but I had to ask them to be patient and at least give us time to set up some telescopes! But soon there were several telescopes set up on the garden, and skywatchers began to arrive, then more, then more…

As the evening went on, we saw a LOT of people, and I don’t think I’m too far out when I say that I reckon we saw over 200 people at our Skywatch, which was fantastic! And with half a dozen different telescopes brought by members of the EAS, those people didn’t have to wait *too* long to look into an eyepiee and see something thrilling.

Because of the slight mist, and just the directions of sky which can be seen from the Brewery, our “Skywatch” turned into something of a “Jupiterwatch”, but that was ok, because the giant gas planet looked gorgeous through every one of the telescopes, complete with prominent cloud belts and several Galilean satellites.

As I said, 200 or so people came along to enjoy our event, and it was great that so many of them were families, with young kids. Those kids were fascinated by what they saw, and lots of shouts and cries of “Wow!” and “Cool!” rang out through the chilly night as they peered into eyepieces and saw Jupiter blazing there. And they loved seeing, and holding, one of my meteorites too (as did many of the adults, who had bigger grins on their faces than their kids did, truth be told!).

Everyone who came along – or at least, every family – went away with one of the BBC Stargazing Live booklet guides, and a full set of the info cards the Beeb had also provided. They were appreciated greatly, which was a relief for me after I’d spent the best part of three hours sorting out all the individual bundles into packs for people to take home! And I have to congratulate the Beeb on the quality of their Outreach resource material this year: the booklet is really, really well written and will be a very useful beginners guide for many people. The info cards are very useful and informative too. And the kids LOVED the sheet of spacey stickers they went home with! So, well done to everyone involved in producing those.

By 9pm, our finish time, we were starting to lose Jupiter behind some nearby trees, so we had to shift some of our telescopes to keep it in view, but still more people came along to join in the stargazing fun, and then more, and it was 9.30 before the last telescope was finally packed up and the event finished.

So, again, another brilliant night at the Brewery! All the members of the EAS who came down to the BAC with their telescopes had to work really, really hard, there were so many people wanting to see Jupiter. But it was worth it, and I’m sure that we’re going to have a LOT of new members at our next meeting! And a special big Thank You to the Brewery Arts Centre for allowing us to hold another of our events there. Looking forward to more Skywatch nights at the Brewery during 2012!

Here are a few pictures from the event (all but one taken with my phone, so a bit rubbish, sorry!). A lot more to follow, as people who attended the Skywatch send me their pictures, but these will give you an idea of what a fun and enjoyable night it was…

Update: some more pix (thanks Carol!)

Anyway, just wanted to update you all on what the Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal is doing to support the BBC’s second series of “Stargazing Live”, which is on telly next week. Like many astronomical societies across the UK, we are holding events to support the series, and the first of them is taking place tonight.

From 7pm we’ll be in the Gardens of Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre, with our telescopes, to show people… stuff! Jupiter will be high and bright, of course, so we’ll have some brilliant views of that if the weather holds (and it should do, it’s a marrow-numbingly cold day here in Kendal, not a cloud in the sky, and it’s meant to stay that way… fingers well and truly crossed!) but lots more too. We’ll also have a TON of Stargazing Live freebies to give away, and there’ll be some meteorites for people to see and hold, too!

…and then next Friday night, the 20th, we’re having an “Astronomy Night” at The Box, the new performing arts / lecture venue down by Kendal Museum. There’ll be a special illustrated lecture, giving “A Tourist Guide To The Universe”, followed by demonstrations of astronomy software and a chance to look at some of our Society members’ telescopes. And those meteorites will be available to have a look at, too! It’s a completely free event, but seating is limited, so get there early.

As I said, it’s a beautifully clear day here in Kendal – across Cumbria, I think? – so it’s looking promising for a clear sky tonight. Last night was gloriously clear too, so I trekked up to Kendal Castle to try and get some pictures of Venus blazing in the dusk sky above the castle ruins… on the way I fell, really went down, slipping on some mud and landing flat on my back, limbs everywhere, but when I got home and saw how the images turned out, well, it was worth the tumble! (click the pics to enlarge them)

Hope we get some more good pics tonight!

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Los Angeles, December 2009. Meeting between Russell T Davis (R) and Clint D Showrecker (C)

C: Russ! I can call you Russ, can’t I? Sure I can! Russ! Come in! Sit down! Great to meet you in person after all the emails, you know, put a face to the email address, haha!

R: Yes, thanks… good to meet you too… From what someone told me, it sounds like we have a lot to talk about -

C: Ah, straight down to business! I like that! Ok. Russ. Russ. “Torchwood”. Love it. LOVE it. It’s going to be a fantastic show with our input -

R: Well, it was a pretty good show already -

C: Sure it was! Sure it was! But, hey, you’re in Hollywood now! We can make Torchwood bigger, better, badder! More explosions! More special effects! Bigger budget! You want it, you’ve got it!

R: Sounds great…! You read my script, I take it?

C: Read it? I devoured it Russ! It’s genius! It leaps off the page! It’s like a movie!

R: That’s good to hear, thanks. No changes needed then?

C: Changes? Russ! No! It’s your show! Why would we change it?

R: That’s a relief! You hear such horror stories about UK TV series being changed once they come over here - 

C: No changes. We do have a few suggestions tho. Just little ones, hardly worth bothering you with..!

R: Suggestions? You mean changes -

C: Suggestions, Russ, suggestions!

R: Such as?

C: Well… Russ, we’ve heard all about you, and love what we heard, that’s why you’re here, right? We know all about how you’re a snappy writer, never a word wasted, everything done and said for a reason, right? The master of the wham-bang script! No padding, right?

R: Well, I try… and I think ‘Miracle Day’ will work well in four parts -

C: Four… yeah… four… you see, we think that’s maybe too wham-bang. Too rushed…

R: I’ve written it as a four parter -

C: And it’s brilliant, Russ, it is! But just think how much more brilliant it would be if you made it a little longer… just a little…

R: Five episodes? Hmmm. That might work… there was another story arc I wanted to include but didn’t think there was enough time. With one more episode it might  -

C: Russ! C’mon! You’re selling yourself short! We ‘re thinking more than one little extra episode…

R: How many more..?

C: Just imagine this with me, Russ… imagine the trailers… Introducing “Torchwood – Miracle Day - the ten part television event of the year…!

R: I’m sorry, I could have sworn I just heard you say ‘ten episodes” -

C: That’s right, Russ! Ten brilliant episodes! A whole series of Torchwood set here in the US! It’ll be brilliant!

R: But… that’s too long, far too long! There’s nowhere near enough story to last ten weeks. It won’t work. I’d have to pad it out with a lot of… nothing happening… that’s not what I do!

C: There’s no such thing as ‘nothing happening’ Russ! I know you can write some brilliant, moody, dark, tension-building scenes to link the action together. People love that -

R: No! It won’t work!

C: Russ, it will, trust me. It’s worked before.

R: When? With what?

C: Remember “Lost”?

R: Yes, vaguely, I fell asleep about halfway through, why?

C: Well, that was just going to be two series, but we got the writers to extend it. They weren’t keen either, said it would make it boring, that viewers would get sick of nothing happening, but boy, we proved them wrong, didn’t we?

R: You can’t turn “Torchwood” into Lost! It’s meant to be edgy and quick! Sharp! Its fans don’t want long and drawn-out, they want to see things happening -

C: Maybe some of the fans do… the old ones… the sad ones who buy “I Love Ianto” t-shirts… but we’re going to get millions of NEW fans Russ, you’ll see! Happy, smiling new fans, with good teeth and healthy tans!

R: The loyal fans will hate it -

C: Oh, those old fans can always watch the boxed sets, we don’t have to worry about them. This is a whole new Torchwood! A Torchwood for the whole world to enjoy, not just that little rainy, poor island of yours! 2011 Russell… the year everything changes… You see what I did there?

R: But… it’ll kill it… there’ll be no tension, no drama… I’d have to drag the story out to breaking point, fill it with pointless scenes and dialogue… people will hate it -

C: Awwww, Russ, now come on, people won’t hate it. They might be…surprised by it, challenged by the new format, especially the old ones, but they’ll come round, and if they don’t who cares? This will be a Torchwood for the future!

R: Ten episodes… I really can’t see it working -

C: Well, let’s not get hung up on little details like that. Time is money, Russ! We need to move this meeting on! Right – casting! You’re going to be a very happy man in about a minute Russ, trust me…

R: You got some ‘names’?

C: Did we get some names? Oh boy, Russ, you’re going to give a Rebel Yell when I tell you who we’ve got!

R: Did you get her?

C: Oh yes, Russ, we got her, just as you asked us to.

R: Nana Visitor wants to be in it? In my show?

C: I told you Russ, trust me! She can’t wait to meet you!

R: Wow… Nana Visitor… she’s fantastic… she’ll be great!

C: She will! Just… one slight change with her character Russ…

R: What?

C: We’re killing her off after one episode.

R: What?! She’s meant to be in it for weeks!

C: I know, but this way is better Russ. Always leave them wanting more, you know the saying! But don’t get too hung up on her, wait until you hear who else we’ve got onboard…

R: Who?

C: John deLancie!

R: Really? Fantastic! He’s a brilliant actor! This will give him a chance to show a more sensitive, quiet side to his character -

C: About that, Russ…

R: Yes?

C: The CIA Chief… we’ve slightly re-written his character -

R: What?

C: He was…we thought… too quiet, too subdued. We thought he’d be better if he was more… acerbic, more confrontational. Arrogant. Smartmouth.

R: So… Q, then.

C: Russ! No! He’ll be nothing like Q!

R: Sounds like Q to me -

C: You’ll love him, you’ll see.

R: Anything else I should know about?

C: Just good things, Russ, just good things! Oh this will be brilliant, I can’t wait to start shooting!

R: Well, at least I’ll be able to show some big budget special effects onscreen this time -

C: Yeah… we’ve been thinking about that too… we’re not going to go overboard on those, keep them to a minimum, you know? As they say, Less is more, Russ, less is more -

R: So what have I got?

C: Well… actually, there are no special effects at all, Russ, all the spacey stuff is implied… the mystery of TV, you know? Oh, tell a lie! We have fire, lots of fire!

R: well that sounds like something -

C: When I say “lots”, I mean one fire… in one cargo container… but it will be a brilliant fire, Russ, you’ll see!

R: So… let me get this straight… the new Torchwood will have no special effects, a story that could be told in five weeks dragged out to ten, and will have lots of pad-out dialogue and unnecessary plot…

C: That’s a very negative view, Russ, I have to say. I’m disappointed.

R: We’re making a new series of the X-Files really, aren’t we?

C: I LOVED the X-Files! Russ, you’re a genius..!!

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Ok, so maybe that’s a bit unfair, but speaking personally I have been absolutely gutted by this new series of “Torchwood”. It doesn’t feel like Torchwood, it doesn’t look or sound like Torchwood, it isn’t Torchwood. I’ve come *this* close to giving up on it, and it’s only been my loyalty to the Dr Who ‘brand’ and my own personal love of the character of Gwen that’s kept me tuning in all these weeks. It certainly hasn’t been the story, which is awful, just awful. There’s the germ of a fantastic idea there, an end to death and the absolute chaos that would cause, but the “Miracle” itself has been so underplayed, kept off-camera so much that it’s become an aside to the backstory of Captain Jack and his erotic conquests through time.

There should be an overwhelming sense of doom pervading the series, as Mankind faces apocalypse through immortality, but it’s just not there. Every now and again someone drops a token reference to the events taking place in the world – a run on the banking system, healthcare falling apart – but no-one seems bothered by that. If “Miracle Day” actually happened, the misery and chaos that would follow would be at Biblical levels, quickly. Now, THAT story could have been told in 5 episodes, but no, they had to drag it out to twice that many, losing all sense of drama and menace in the process.

I’m not stupid. I know things have to change, and evolve, to stay fresh and relevent, and to gain a new audience, but Torchwood must be the only UK show ever to migrate to the US and actually become less exciting in the process. I expected a gripping story, with fantastic effects – or at least effects more striking than those seen in the UK series – and a real gusto and energy about it. But “Miracle Day” has been one of the dreariest, most drawn-out things I’ve seen on TV, it really has. Somewhere along the line someone, somewhere, ripped the hot, beating heart out of a brilliant TV series, with a character all of its own and turned it into something else. It could be an X-Files movie, it really could.

There have been some good bits, to be fair. There has been a lot of humour in the “Brits Abroad” scenes, as Gwen especially struggled to come to terms with how different things, and people, are in the US. And when he’s managed to keep his clothes on Capt Jack has had some fun with the snooty CIA superior types, but I’ve got the impression that John Barrowman has been rather bored by this series himself, there’s no “Capt Jack twinkle” in his eye this time. It’s all looked like a bit of a chore for him.

Eve Myles, of course, has been brilliant, as usual. Gutsy and earthy, with a mean right hook and a big book of sassy put downs always close to hand, she’s been one of the few reasons to keep watching. Not because of her part in the story, which has been disappointing. She started off strongly – I’ll never forget seeing her striding through that cottage on the Welsh shore, baby tucked under her arm as she blasted away with her gun – but since then she’s slowly been turned into some bizarre Welsh version of Minnie The Minx, always looking to bash someone.

These are all just personal views, of course. I’m sure others have loved the show just as much as I’ve been disappointed by it. Fair enough, I’m just very, very disappointed by the whole thing, and feel the need to vent, ok?

Oh well. Maybe if it comes back for another series, Torchwood will come home, and we can all put its trip to the US behind us. I hope so. I miss Torchwood – the Real Torchwood – and I want it back. I’m sure it will come back. Or maybe I’ll wake up in the shower one morning and all this will just have been a bad dream…

At its best, Torchwood was funny, flirty, exciting, dangerous and gripping. The sooner we say goodbye to this Ganger clone that has taken its place for the past two months, the better.

I’m not going to reproduce all the images here, there’s no point, not when you can go to the official NASA websites and download them onto your own PC, so you can then enjoy them in all their glory. Here are the links you need to follow to get to the beautiful new images…

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html

http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/?archives/454-Skimming-the-Moon.html

Oh, alright, here’s one of them, I can’t resist it…!

Click on that to enlarge it and you can actually see the tracks of the Apollo 17 astronauts wanderiong and weaving around their lunar module. Fantastic! See those dark lines? We made those! People! And at the centre of all the activity, the lunar module itself – a real, honest-to-God spacecraft that we designed, built, flew to and landed on the Moon more than a generation before Google, before iPads and Pods, before the Internet. People rose off the Earth, flew across the gulf of space and landed on a hostile, alien world with a fraction of the computing power the computer you’re reading this on has. And they all made it back to Earth. We couldn’t do that now. We can’t even get astronauts up to the space station. Just take a moment to think about that…

Space enthusiasts are drooling over them, and rightly so – as fascinating as images of extraterrestrial rocks, craters, mountains and valleys are (and you all know how much I love those!) there’s something magical, something hypnotising, something… very touching about seeing human-built hardware on the surface of another world. It reminds us that maybe our race is capable of greatness now and again, that Mankind isn’t necessarily doomed to wipe itself out with bombs, viruses or something worse.

And these latest portraits of the Apollo landing sites are a timely reminder that, although human space exploration has definitely stalled for the time being, we managed to break free of Earth’s gravity once before, and the only thing that’s stopping us from doing it again is laziness and apathy and, to be frank, a lack of balls. I honestly think the Apollo astronauts are quietly ashamed of how timid we have become since they strapped themselves into their rickety seats on the top of those bomb-waiting-to-go-off Saturn Vs.

You know what I think these pictures really tell us? I think they shout out  that we need to stop ****ing about with futuristic Powerpoints, and optimistic studies, and fancy computer simulations and artists impressions and grow a pair, and do something to invest in our species’ future instead of celebrating its dusty past.

But I digress. As I was saying, I love these new images, obviously. But some people won’t, and we all know who they are, don’t we? The people who still, after all these years, insist that astronauts never went to the Moon, that it was all an elaborate hoax, and that all the rest of us are fools who have been taken in by the greatest conspiracy (cue echo effects) Of All Time…

Within a couple of hours of these new LRO images appearing, the ever-reliable Apollo Hoax Believers were dismissing them as just the latest NASA smokescreen, and repeating their mantra that “We never landed on the Moon”. This is annoying and frustrating some of my fellow space writers and enthusiasts, but not me. You see, I don’t care about the Apollo Hoax Believers anymore, I really don’t. I simply can’t be bothered with them. I used to try debating with them, to talk through their objections and concerns rationally and objectively, but I just can’t be arsed doing that any longer. We’re never going to make them see sense, we’re never going to make them realise that they’re the ones who are wrong, because even if we built a rocket and filled it with the Hoax Believers, landed it on the Moon, physically marched them over to the Apollo landing sites, showed them the Earth hanging in the sky then lifted them up and hurled them down onto the dust-covered LEM descent stages so hard they saw stars they STILL wouldn’t believe it, they’d think they’d been drugged and taken to a Capricorm 1 style studio somewhere in the desert.

Why? Why do they ignore the sciencem the facts, the overwhelming weight of proof that yes, people did fly to the Moon? Why do they insist on carrying on with their crusade of denial and delusion?

Because they LOVE it, that’s why. They love feeling like they know something we don’t. They enjoy belonging to an elite little club that thinks they’re better than everyone else. It’s a superiority thing: we’re all stupid, and they’re clever. They Know. Try to debate the Apollo landings with them seriously and they look at you as if you’re some kind of pathetic country bumpkin who doesn’t understand why the Sun moves across the sky. They know the truth and no-one can tell them anything different.

So now I don’t even try. They’re not worth my time. If they want to waste their time, and their lives, believing in the most ridiculous, most ludicrous, most slap-across-the-face obviously insane conspiracy theory ever concocted well, that’s their choice. But I won’t feed their obsession. They can get on with it, I don’t care any more. I’d rather rejoice in the glory of Apollo, in the heroism of the astronauts and the genius of the scientists and engineers behind the program, thank you. I’d rather look up at the Moon on a clear night and be moved by the knowledge that up there, on that cratered, mountainous world, are the footprints of explorers, adventurers and pioneers the equal of Columbus, Magellan and Shackleton. I’d rather believe that, in this modern age of terrorism, financial doom and gloom and imminent climate collapse, we can, if we get off our backsides, reach for the sky – and the stars – again, to prove that we are a species worth the beauty and glory of the universe.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I can predict, with 10000% certainty, that this post will draw the wrath of the Hoax believers, and they’ll leave enraged and self-righteous comments here. That’s ok, Free Speech and all that. They’re free to believe what they want, I suppose. But I really think that deep down inside they secretly know the truth, they know that they’re wrong, that they’re being … well, a bit silly, really. If they sat down in a quiet corner and thought about it, I mean really thought about it, they’d realise that in this modern age, of computer hackers, Wiki-leaks and almost astronomical levels of greed, there is no way a hoax involving even one Apollo mission, let alone all of them, could remain a secret.

So, it’s my fervent hope that these new LRO images will silence many of the Hoax Believers, or at least a few of them, but I guess we all know it won’t. They’ve invested too much time, effort and money in their club membership to do a U turn now. So, they’ll look at these new LRO images and declare that they’re fakes too, created by NASA with Photoshop and computer trickery to back up their ridiculous claims that they – haha! get this! – landed people on the Moon!!

Which they did, of course.

Two last images for now. Firstly, a view of the Apollo 16 LEM standing proudly, serenely, magnificently on the Moon. If you are a Hoax Believer this next image will do nothing for you, it will leave you cold. It’s not for you. It’s for the rest of us. The ones who Believe. The ones who Get It. The ones who carry the precious flame of Apollo within like a pilot light.

And finally, my own personal favourite…

If there’s any justice in the world, right now, as you read this, there’s a meeting being held, somewhere in the bowels of the BBC, at which a panel of dark-suited, bespectacled execs are discussing the casting of the next big budget BBC historical drama…

“So, we’re here to discuss the casting for ‘The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth’…” begins the Top Man. “Any opening thoughts?”

“I think we absolutely have to get Gary Oldman for Kepler”, suggests a smooth voice from his right. “He’d be perfect… he does skeletal and dour so well…”

“Ok… Kepler… Oldman…” the Top Man repeats, nodding in approval, “yes, I like that…” He taps away on his iPad, scrolling down a list. “Next… Tycho..?”

“Brian Blessed!” shout three people simultaneously. The Top Man nods again. That’s the name he’d come up with, too. Loud, brash, completely over the top, and wouldn’t need much padding. Perfect. So far so good.

“Grienberger?” he asks next. There’s a pause. This one is more difficult.

“I thought maybe Alan Rickman,” someone eventually offers, hesitantly. “He was great in the Potter films – “

“Oh yes, yes, I can see that,” the Top Man agrees, “very menacing, very dark…ok, yes, that would work…” He taps away again. “Jeppo?” he asks, with a sigh. This one has been worrying him. Who could they cast as a lunatic dwarf?

“Um… I had a thought… bit outside the box, though…” someone suggests nervously.

“Go on, we’re all friends here,” Top Man says, ignoring the sarcastic coughs and rolling of eyes prompted by his comment.

“Well… I was thinking… Andy Serkis – “

“Too tall!” laughs someone on the other side of the room. “You want him shuffling about on his knees?”

“We could do it with the motion capture thing,” continues the blue spectacled youngster, ignoring the snide comment. “Worked great in the Tolein films, and the Apes movie…” 

“Hmmm…” the Top Man replies, cogs clearly turning. “Ok… worth a try… let’s contact Serkis’ agent. If it doesn’t pan out there’s always Graham Norton, I suppose…” He looks at his list. “Just one major character left then… Galileo – “

“Stephen Fry has already asked if he can be considered,” someone reports. The Top Man nods in satisfaction. Perfect.

“Right, that’s casting sorted then,” he smiles. Now, locations…”

Ok. Let’s be honest. The first word that comes to mind when many people think of a historical novel is “dull”, particularly if it’s a scientific historical novel, right? But with “The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth” Stuart Clark – popular writer, broadcaster and prolific Twitterer – has swept that cliche away and given us a book that is both scientifically educational and a pretty good,  gripping adventure, too.

The story is a pretty familiar one, if you’ve a basic knowledge of the history of astronomy: how science and the Church (many different Churches, actually) clashed over the way the solar system was arranged and worked. You know, the whole Tycho vs Copernicus thing, crystal spheres, harmonies, epicycles and all that. What Stuart Clark has done so cleverly is bring the players in that story – Kepler, Tycho Brahe, Galileo and various Church goodies and baddies – gloriously to life, and made it a very human story in the process. In TSDL (come on, I’m not typing out the whole title every time!)  Clark doesn’t ram the science down your throat; there’s a LOT of science in the book, no mistake about that, but because the main characters are such passionate scientists, their science is their life, you learn the science, and the history, as their characters and stories develop. So, astronomy types reading this book will love the insights into the scientific debates and battles, while non-astronomers will get caught up in the human stories, I’m sure, and subconsciously absorb some science along the way.

One of the things I loved most about the book was the way the battles between science and church, with their behind the scenes plotting and scheming, are so deliciously dark and mysterious. Clark is such a visual writer that during these chapters you can almost hear the huge wooden Vatican doors creaking like the doors of haunted houses in Scooby Doo, and feel the chill air inside the churches and cathedrals. The characters involved in these chapters are the most intriguing, too, with the character of Grienberger portrayed with lip-smacking malevolence and disdain, but coming through at the end as a man who – well, no, I won’t spoil it, you’ll want to read it for yourself.

Obviously TSDL isn’t a reference book, it’s a novel, so there’s quite a bit of artistic licence in many of the chapters I’m sure - bloody battles in tiny streets fight for attention with long hours spent hunched over dusty parchments in candlelit studies - but that’s ok; if I want to read an astronomy reference book I’ve got shelves over there groaning under the weight of them, thank you.  The book had me by the throat from the very beginning, from as soon as it started describing the final hours of Giordano Bruno. That was written so visually I could honestly see the events unfolding in my mind as I read it. The stinking cell… Bruno curled up…the rich colours of the Cardinal’s cloth… loved it, really.

So, you want romance? It’s there. History? Check. Intrigue and mystery? Check. Science? Check.

But the heart of this book is the struggle of one man, Kepler, to stand up for what he believes in, for what he knows, and to stay true to himself, and to science, in the face of personal and professional attacks by an unbelievably powerful enemy. Personally, I’ve no idea how accurate Clark’s portrayal of Kepler is, I don’t know much about his personal life, but I’m confident he did his research and portrayed Kepler as accurately and faithfully as he could. But in the book Kepler comes across as a brave, sincere man, devoted to his family, faith and science (though maybe not in that order…), and I really liked him, even if I did want to give him a slap a few times and tell him not to be so naive and open his eyes..!

So, should you hand over some of your hard-earned cash for a copy of “The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth”? I don’t know, that depends. Do you want to see historical figures like Kepler, Tycho and Galileo in a new light? Do you want to learn about the historic clash of Church and Science that led to modern science’s understanding of our place in the universe? Do you want one of the most fascinating periods in the history of astronomy brought vividly to life, giving you a whole new respect for the scientists who steered us to where we are now? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions then yep, go get yourself a copy, you won’t regret it.

But I warn you, it’s a real “Can’t Put Down” book, so set aside time to read it. I read it in one morning, sat in this tent, in this muddy field by Ullswater…

…and although I was desperate to cook our breakfast, and get out of my soggy clothes, and basically rejoin the human race, all I wanted to do was keep reading. So that has to be a good sign.

TSDL is the first in Clark’s trilogy of astronomy novels. The next will feature Isaac Newton (hmmm… how will Clark make Newton as exciting a figure as Kepler? That’ll be interesting…), and the final one will feature Einstein and Hubble (and, hopefully, Eddington..?). I’m already looking forward to reading those.

But not, if I have anything to do with it, in a tent.

More about “The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth” (link to Amazon page)

It didn’t turn out quite as planned, because in the end the ISS was actually TOO high to let me capture its complete arc above the Castle, but I was pretty pleased with what I got. I’ll try again, on a night when the ISS traces out a rather lower arc in the sky, and I should get the shot I want then. In the meantime, this will do nicely…

Unfortunately, the weather affected us rather badly this year. The last two years we had been blessed with absolutely beautiful days, unbropken sunshine, and trhe crowds came out accordingly. This year our luck ran out, and yesterday was very showery and grey here in Kendal, and even though there were no heavy downpours, obviously many people thought that such downpours were going to happen, so stayed in town or even indoors. So our visitor numbers were well down. That’s not to say people DIDN’T come and see our model, far from it. We had a steady flow of Solar System trekkers between mid-day and 4pm, but none of the surging crowds from last year. The poor weather also meant we weren’t able to show people the Sun through our filtered telescopes as we had planned. And just to make the event even more “challenging” we were a few helpers down, too.

But, all those things apart, it was still a great day, and all the EAS members who took part – and our non-EAS member friends and supporters too – really enjoyed themselves, and enjoyed the chance to “spread the word” about the solar system, astronomy and the Eddington AS with the many people who came along to take a look at our model.

Some photos from the day…

The start of our model, with EAS Chairman Graham Fell (left, blue jumper) workiing hard on setting things up…

“Mercury”…

“Venus”…

“Earth”…

(I was “Mars” so there’s no photo… shame… haha!)

“Jupiter” (where you could also see some meteorites, including a piece of Vesta!)…

(waiting for a picture of “Saturn”, but special thanks to Kendal Museum’s Anna Hall, who had to ‘be’ Saturn on her own, after none of her young Space Explorers Club turned up to help her…   )

“Uranus”…

“Neptune”…

We didn’t have a “Pluto” this year because of a lack of manpower, and I didn’t bother even putting up a board or notice indicating where it should be, as some hoodie-wearing, I’m-such-a-bad-guy chav scumbag would have nicked it or thrown it in the river, so “Neptune” just told people where Pluto would be.

So, yes, it was still a very enjoyable day, with lots of young families especially. Great help from all the volunteers, and a surprise visit from a very, very special and very welcome guest…

As you can see, the good Professor was more than happy to pose for photos with our volunteers and visitors…

Despite the poor weather there was a great spirit during the day, and we all had a lot of fun unbetween talking to our visitors…

Thanks again to everyone who came along yesterday, to help or to see the model. It was definitely worth doing, and hopefully it will have attracted some new members to the Society, too!