The Metropolis

Stargazing in London becomes slightly less impossible

Mike Pollitt | Wednesday 26 October, 2011 12:17

London, when did you last look up and comprehend the stars? When did you last gaze in wonder at the immense vault of the heavens, glistening above you like a thousand premonitions of your own untimely death? Not recently, I’ll wager, for the very good reason that you can’t see squat most of the time. A moon here, a Jupiter there, perhaps the square of Pegasus on a clear night. Slim pickings.

But recognising your own mortality just got a bit easier with the news that the Waterworks nature reserve near Hackney Marshes is London’s contribution to the Dark Sky Discovery project, which means events and telescopes and that sort of thing, mostly starting next year. Question: where else in London combines good star-viewing with low chance of being mugged on the way back? All suggestions gratefully received.

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