Last week I bought a fantastic deck of constellation cards. Each card has a constellation on the front, and its name and profile on the back. (The card on the box is Cassiopeia, Andromeda’s mother.) It tells you the its mythology, what the brightest or most interesting stars are, if there are any galaxies to look at, where its located and so on.

After the first day I could identify every card, but I am not sure I would be able to if it weren’t for the lines that join the dots. If it were just the stars on their own, I don’t think I’d recognise them so easily.

Still, it’s made me pretty confident and is a great way to stay in touch with the sky and practice astronomy even while I don’t have the energy to go out. I think it could be a good idea to start drawing them, and anchor them to my memory. 15 months ago

Tonight was the lunar eclipse. I used all my energy and effort sitting on the concrete step in the garden, watching the thickly woven blanket of clouds with my green-eyed black cat. No moon or sky could get through the grey weave but I enjoyed the anticipation and the air, and I started to think about this goal.

43Things needs a save for later option in addition to done and I give up. I am not done and I don’t want to give up, but I have so many goals on my list that I want to keep but that distract and clutter my attention. I’m not sure whether to tick this one done, or hang onto it for a while longer… 23 months ago