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Top astronomer praises Island's dark skies

Booked flight into space

Watch more of the interview on the Manx Radio Portal.

One of the UK's best known astronomers has been on the Island to promote its Dark Skies.

Nigel Henbest has written over 50 books on astronomy, has been media consultant to the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Directed the Channel 4 Series "The Stars" and has an asteroid named after him. He's also hoping to be an astronaut.

He says through the work of local astronomer, Howard Parkin, the Isle of Man has been a pioneer in the Dark Skies initiative, and he believes reducing unwanted lighting at night is good for all of us.

Nigel also spoke about the future of space tourism, which he is convinced will get off the ground later this year, and says he has already booked his trip into space.

Three dark skies events are taking place in the south of the Island over the next three nights, all starting at 7pm.

Tonight's (Fri) is at Port St Mary golf club, tomorrow's is at the Bradda Glen restaurant, while Sunday's is at Castletown Bowling Green.

If you're going to any of them, the advice is to wrap up very warm.

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