I guess my interest in Astronomy was probably first kickstarted around 1986 with the appearance of Halley’s Comet, even though I saw absolutely jack-shit.

Despite this, it still stirred a bit more with the aide of a couple of editions of the Observer’s Book of Astronomy, a few different Ladybird Books on Spaceflight & Astronomy + a couple of bits of one of those multi-part magazine things (which as usual I never did get the full lot). Also from getting to see the stars after dark on the way home from trips across the moors on the regular shopping trips to Middlesbrough my grandparents used to take me on.

After a few pops & farts, it reawakened again in 1999 when I finally bought my first PC, and one of the first of many computer magazine cover-disks I got my mitts on had demo versions of Astronomy software including Starry Night + another one, I think it might’ve been a PC edition of Distant Suns, but I’m not sure. Made finding my way around the sky way easier than relying on the monthly star charts in Astronomy magazines such as Astronomy Now + Astronomy that my Dad used to occasionally get, which also used to re-ignite my wanting for a Telescope (I’m still crying out for either a Meade ETX-70 or LX200 today as I write this).