Who probably shared similar views to most of our grandparents or great-grandparents.

A completely different era, cultural norms a world away from today, and actually a very fooking good excuse for his extreme feelings. Odd you don't think your fiancée being killed in a violent act of war is worthy of a major emotional response.

I'm sure deep down he knew his views were extreme but you know what, he probably couldn't forgive, and only a fool wouldn't understand that.

Being not into the 'night sky' I used to reach for the tv zapper rapido on the the odd ocassion he appeared on my tv screen.
I could have made a pretty good assumption at some of the adjectives you've used in describing him.
I'd have used [ibat,[/i he appeared an old-school eccentric.

The French are out for the French (which I admire), so I reckon there will be lot who don't trust them.

My Father fought in WW2 in the desert, in Burma then was called up for Korea. I always found it odd that he didn't seem to express hatred for his then "enemy" (at least not to me). However, he did dislike his American allies.The only aspects of war he ever discussed were either novelty, such as frying an egg on a tank hull, or "accidentally" driving his bren gen carrier through the officers mess tent!

Anyhoo, was walking sections of Hadrians wall this weekend around "Twice Brewed". I was amazed at the view of the night sky and could see the Milky Way and star clusters that I can't see at home. Jupiter was the brightest thing in the sky. There wasn't much light pollution locally although Newcastle was an orange glow beyond the horizon.

That would be the place to be tomorrow night for the meteors, then! It's a shame that the vast majority of people in English cities will never get to see the Milky Way in their lifetime. Unless things get so bad that we start getting power cuts. Once of the amazing things the last time we had power cuts was seeing the night sky in all its glory over Bradford, surreal.

I would imagine it would be a good place - we got a very clear view of a meteor in the 10mins before the lure of real ale had it's wicked way

It depends on personal experience. Survivors of the Japanese camps tended to harbour a hatred of their captors till they day they died. Many ordinary soldiers, even combat troops who saw action, had no hatred of the enemy but fought for their 'mates'. Others, on the other hand, had personal reason to harbour an anger and hatred of the enemy - and the loss of a loved one would probably be as good a reason as any,


I've been stargazing in the Lake District, at the top of Mount Teide on Tenerife, out in the Sinai desert - but the best place by a mile was out on a bog-standard sunset cruise off the coast of South Turkey. We did the usual beach bbq, etc and at about 10.30 they switched all the boat lights off as we cruised back to harbour - simply stunning, the Milky Way was an enormous crystal clear mass of light (and black) streaking across the sky. Could see shooting stars and satellites moving in orbit. Gutted when they switched the lights back on an hour later.

www.jessops.com/directory/catalo ... ssops_8_37 Some good deals here, Anyone got any of these ?. www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20709852

www.jessops.com/directory/catalo ... ssops_8_37 Some good deals here, Anyone got any of these ?. www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20709852

No and I wouldn't. I'd repeat my earlier advice that anyone interested in a first scope would be best off attending the next meet of their local astronomical society. Anyway IMHO a good-sized pair of binoculars of modest magnification, and something steady to rest them on, is a far better first observing tool than a small cheap scope. Most beginners would rapidly lose heart and interest trying to see or find anything much bar the moon, and put the scope in the loft.

But all you need tonight is your eyes, a sunlounger and plenty of warm layers. And you don't need cloud cover!

I'm leaning more towards a decent pair binoculars to start off with .

On the slight plus side there is the rlJames Webb Telescoperl coming in 2018 which should illuminate the sky for us even further. Live webcam of the build rlhererl

Good call. Make sure to get some that you can fit to a tripod. There is no fun to be had in watching mini star trails jiggle up and down while your arms ache like feck!

Leave them outside somewhere where they won't be nicked, for an hour or so before you go out, so the optics all cool down, to help against steaming up.

Although is the funding for this now confirmed? This year there was talk that it came perilously close to being cancelled, which would be a crime against humanity.

Has anyone tried any auto-tracking telescopes or devices?

I don't think I'd be that bothered but under high magnification some celestial objects can zip across your field of vision in no time.

Just wondering.

Yes, I have a Celestron that does just that, and it's a feature available as standard or extra on most decent scopes. The latest models are even easier as basically not only do they track, but they even set themselves up.

The big bonus with having a motorised drive is that not only will it track your object as it moves across the sky, but they all have a catalogue of all the main objects which your telescope will find for you. Lazy know, but saves you having to learn star-hopping or find your way about the sky.

Such scopes usually also have a facility to connect them to a PC and control from that, so with a suitable camera fixed to the eyepiece you could even watch the view on your screen inside. You will get software with your telescope, but most astronomy software can be used to guide a scope, create "tours" and viewing lists etc.