The night sky

I was at the planetarium at the Science Centre today (with pupils) and I was very impressed. It's years since I have been there and I really enjoyed looking at the stars and listening to the talk. Our pupils all behaved beautifully, unlike the other school that were there, so that was very pleasant bonus! The lecturer even had to stop the talk so that their teachers could give them a row! I learned how to find the North star - I have been getting this wrong for years! I also learned how to find the constellation of Taurus. First find the pleiades which are where the bull's shoulder would be, then from there you can find its orange eye and its other eye, and below the two eyes are a sort of nostril arrangement. It was so interesting. This made me think that it's high time that we get James' telescope out into the garden again. I got James a telescope for his 40th birthday (quite some time ago!) I did some research and ordered him the the best one I could afford, which was made in Russia and was absolutely huge; it came in several large wooden boxes and had to be assembled! James was delighted but asked me if I would mind if he upgraded it to an American model of the same strength but a much more manageable size; neat enough that we could carry it out to the garden on its tripod without actually having to dismantle it. Of course I was fine with this and the shop (Lizar's I think) were happy to upgrade it. We have used it from time to time and so have the boys, but not nearly enough - so I am determined that now that the nights are getting longer we will take it outside and make better use of it. I texted James about this (he's in London tonight) and he was in agreement.