Greenwich

A Hydrogen atom in a cell at the end of my nose was once part of an elephant's trunk.

Sophie's World - Jostein Gardner

My visit to Greenwich last Saturday was very successful. As you can see from the above photo I particularly enjoyed relaxing in the park with a good view over the National Maritime Museum and Canary Wharf.

The main purpose of my visit was to take in a couple of shows in the new planetarium that has been built upon the site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. The shows were impressive, but not quite what I was hoping for. I was expecting one of them at least to be the traditional planetarium show that displays the stars and planets visible in the night sky. As it was I got an excellent demonstration of the images gleaned from the various robot landings on Mars and an account of the origins of our universe.

I find shows like this fascinating and they remind me how little I know about so many things. This in turn drives to find out more information in order to fill in some of the gaps in my knowledge.

Time, I think for a small test to see how much you know about the universe. Which of the following is true?

• Every breath you take contains and atom breathed out by Marilyn Monroe.
• You age faster at the top of a building than the bottom.
• Time travel is not forbidden by the laws of physics.
• A cup of coffee weighs more when it is hot than when it is cold.
• The faster you travel, the slimmer you get.

What do you think? Of course, it's a trick question - they are all true! If you want to know why they are true then you will have to do what I did, which is buy a book. In my case I bought a very concise, yet fascinating book in the Royal Observatory gift shop. The book is called Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt you by Marcus Chown. Another book that covers similar subjects and more besides is A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, which I reckon is the most interesting book I have ever read.

I made another impulse buy at the shop - A CD ROM entitled 'Teaching You Astronomy Skills'. I figured that if the planetarium wasn't going to show me the night sky then I'd better seek it out myself. My reason for wishing to do so is linked to yet another impulse buy I made 3 years ago when I purchased a telescope.

Astronomy is a fantastic hobby but it has a couple of drawbacks. The first is you need to know what it is your looking at, or, if you are looking for a particular object, whereabouts in the vastness of the night sky it is. The best way to do this is to have Patrick Moore or someone equally knowledgeable assisting you. Sadly Pat won't come out with me, so I'm hoping that the CD ROM will be my guide.The other downside is the night sky is at its best for viewing in winter and away from any light sources. Now I don't know about you but sitting in a pitch black field whilst freezing my nuts off it not something that I find too appealing.

But on those occasions when I have dragged myself away from my nice cosy house it has been worth it. My telescope is powerful enough to allow me to see four of Jupiter's moons and that alone has blown me away.

As you may gather, impulse buying can be a problem for me. A few glasses of wine and a quick surf around ebay is never a good idea I find. Just lately I have found myself drooling over telescopes that have a built in computer guidance system. No need for Patrick Moore, just tell the system what you want to look at and with a quick whizz of the motors the scope points straight at it. Sounds perfect to me. I think I'd better not mix drinking and surfing for a while otherwise the postie is going to get a hernia delivering my latest whimsy to the door.

Live long and prosper.