"Just by looking up at the stars - you are involved in astronomy", that's from an enthusiastic, amateur, astronomer volunteering at the Island Planetarium.
EXCLUSIVE...
The Isle of Wight’s only astronomy centre is looking forward to welcoming children and parents for two weeks this half term - for the first time since the pandemic started.
John Ward, a presenter at the site in Fort Victoria Country Park in Yarmouth says you can come along to exhibitions and enjoy the astrodome, which is a 27 seat theatre.
You can sit back and relax whilst looking up at the night sky and watch educational films about space.
John, who also does an uncanny impression of writer, researcher, radio broadcaster and astronomer Sir Patrick More during the talks, told Isle of Wight Radio:
Scroll to hear John's impression...
“We have had a long break after COVID but now we are ready for the general public….A typical show starts with Tim Peake blasting off in his rocket up to the International Space Station, he gives us a short tour. After that we have a short film that explains the birth and death of stars and that is fascinating too.
“Then I will do my 10 or 15 min talk about what you can see in the night sky. I then do my impression of Sir Patrick More which always gets a little laugh - it was Patrick who got me interested from ‘In The Sky At Night’ when I was just six years old.”
(John pictured above)
Listen to John's impression of Sir Patrick More below...
Asked why the Isle of Wight is so good for stargazing, John said:
“We have dark skies here because there is so little light pollution thanks to no big cities on the Island...If you come to Fort Victoria, the walls of the Fort hide all the bright lights from Southampton and Portsmouth - because we have star gazing evenings as well as daytime activities… I have done lots of observing from various parts of the UK but I was pleasantly surprised at how good the skies are here.”
The site in Fort Victoria is a "Dark Sky Discovery Site" and the volunteers want Islanders to come down and join them.
As exclusively reported by Isle of Wight Radio, the previous administration was looking for solutions to achieve ‘Dark Sky Status' for the Isle of Wight. To achieve the recognition, you need good sightlines which are not blocked by trees or tall buildings.
The Island Planetarium is open now, for two weeks and will be showing one hour-long shows at the following times:
11am,12pm,2.30pm and 4pm shows.
Find out more about the events here
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