Stars and Wars

[sierra_le_oli]

bonnie-j thought the Imperial War Museum was good when she was here [Edit: not good good but interesting with faults], so when furrfu suggested it as a Saturday activity, I was keen to go. gmh came too and it was great going round with someone who is knowledgable on the subject. We spent most of our time in the main hall where the big exhibits like the tanks and

Comments

[furrfu]

I felt that if I wanted to hang on to the vestigial remnants of my amateur-astronomer-ness, I should see at least one Perseid last night. And so I spent some time in the garden, both boggling at how dark the sky was compared to Belgium's (the price you pay for having the only fully lit motorway network in the world), how loud a neighbour was playing music, and how devoid the heavens were of meteors. But then I saw a proper bolide, a fireball leaving behind a glowing trail. Easily brighter than Venus.

The Imperial War Museum also impressed me, albeit in a different way. The sheer pointlessness of it all, and the gargantuan cost, just hurt my brane.

[sierra_le_oli]

I was once again despairing at the light pollution although surprisingly things were better than in Leiden. I also didn't think I would see anything anyway as thick doom-clouds gather whenever gmh wants to see anything of an astronomical nature and I live only 15 minutes away from him. :-)

Very mixed feelings about the Imperial War Museum. I hadn't seen even half of it by the time we left, but two hours was definitely enough for one visit.

[furrfu]

I can see the Milky Way if the sky's not too humid, but then I do live out in the sticks rather than in the centre of London...

I think I've seen enough of the IWM (although I might go back to Duxford just for the Big Machinery) -- I don't think I really /want/ to see much more.

It also was quite one-sided in places but then I guess the "Imperial" in the name gives that away. :-)

[yoodi]

I am amazed that it was possible to see shooting stars in the london area at all.
Light pollution is boo.

[sierra_le_oli]

I was surprised too, I expected it to be like the west of the Netherlands. But of course London doesn't have a huge amount of hothouses around it. That said, we really had to go to the park where the trees blocked out some of the direct street lighting to be able to see anything.

[furrfu]

You may also remember my rubbish little London A-Z, the one with a paucity of streets.

It turns out it wasn't laundry-proof, either.

Tchah.

[bonnie_j]

I think you might have heard "good" when I actually said "infuriatingly one-eyed but still interesting."

I got mild shellshock from the trench warfare display, thinking of all those poor bastards, couldn't face the Blitz, and fumed in outrage on behalf of those in the cursorily treated Gallipoli campaign. Then we hit the Holocaust, to top it all off. It doesn't pay to have too much imagination in those things.

[sierra_le_oli]

Sorry for misrepresenting you. I meant "good" in the sense of "worth going to".

The Blitz was totally bleh thanks to a guide chirping at our group in a patronising "explaining to children" voice. I avoided the Holocaust exhibit and I'm glad I did by the sound of it.

[bonnie_j]

The Holocaust thing was a cut above the rest of the material, and didn't hit any obvious bum notes, though I'm not an expert. I'm sending Lauren, who is one, to confirm. However, the subject matter is such that the better the exhibition, the more likely it is to be incredibly depressing.