Isle of Man Astronomical Society sent in a write up of their BBC Stargazing Live events during early January (below) . There were many Stargazing Live events and expect to read about many more in the FAS newsletter
The IOM Astronomical Society held a public stargazing event at Onchan Park, Onchan Isle of Man on three nights 8th,9th and 10th January from 7.00pm. The first two nights were crystal clear and we had a steady stream of visitors and a great number of children with their parents viewing Jupiter, the Pleiades and M 42 and other things through the selection of telescopes brought by members. Mike Kelly gave a wonderful live commentary of all the stars and constellations on view. The Third night, 10th January was clouded out and it started to drizzle, but still about 20 of the public showed up to chat for a short while about the Society. We are grateful to Mark Henthorne and James Martin for organising the event and to Andrea Dentith from Onchan Commissioners for getting permission to use the Park and obligingly arranging to have some of the lighting turned off. This venue offers great possibilities for future events. We have had lots of positive feedback from the public about how much they enjoyed the event and the children are now surfing the internet to find out more about the stars and planets.
(from James Martin, Secteary of IOM AS)