Stargazing Live

Last night, in the parish, I tuned into Stargazing Live on BBC2 at 9 pm. It is presented by a double act of Professor Brian Cox, who the BBC wrongly believes is not appealing enough for its viewers, and so confirms his existence by presence of Dara O'Briain. But still, they make an amusing pair, even though I'd happily watch Brian Cox on his own for an hour. On the road, there is another scientist teaching (for some reason) Jonathan Ross how to stargaze (presumably, the BBC had to write another contract for Ross on this occasion), and in Hawaii, there features a bit of skirt, to liven up the whole show.

Two things I really wanted as a child - a train set and a telescope - and I was not afforded the luxury of being given either of them. No matter how much I said I wanted to see the rings of Saturn, or the moons of Jupiter, Santa just didn't oblige, and so I was forced to observe the stars through a pair of binoculars.

I even remember using them to magnify the Sun onto a piece of paper, so that I could safely track the transit of Venus.

I still don't have a telescope - maybe it could be a resolution for the year, to take up stargazing, though I would resent that, lest it appear that I caught my interest from the BBC - but I enjoy looking at the sky, figuring out which constellation is which, waiting for a shooting star, and now, with my new mobile phone, I can even point towards a satellite to find out what it is!

I look forward to watching the upcoming episodes of this new programme, and maybe I'll have a telescope of my own pointing out of the window soon enough.