Last weekend saw the Island’s first ‘Pie in the Sky’ event, the latest of many new initiatives organised this year by Isle of Man Railways. This particular event involved being transported to the top of Snaefell by the famous Snaefell Mountain Railway, for a night of good food and star gazing with members of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society. Passengers on the Friday night’s tram were greeted at the summit by glorious panoramic views as the sun set on the horizon, before heading inside as darkness fell to warm up with a delicious hot-pot supper and homemade apple pie. Howard Parkin, Chairman of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society, then gave an overview of the sights that could be seen that night. Outside, the lack of light pollution revealed perfect stargazing conditions, the clear skies enabled Howard and members of the Society to point out the Milky Way, various constellations, a surprising number of satellites, at least one meteor and the planet Jupiter with the aid of a telescope that was taken up to the summit. Through this passengers could clearly see planet’s atmospheric bands and the Galilean moons. Howard Parkin, Chairman of the Isle of Man Astronomical Society commented: “We really were fortunate with the weather, the skies seemed to clear at about 6pm and with little wind at the summit, viewing conditions really were ideal. The lack of light pollution on the summit meant that the Milky Way was really prominent and we spent nearly an hour showing everyone the sights and explaining the various features and the mythology of many of the constellations” Poor weather on Saturday meant that Howard presented a very informative and entertaining set of videos and images detailing what could be seen in clear weather. This also included video footage of the live link up with the International Space Station held last October with NASA astronaut Nicole Stott at the Manx Museum, as well as two Manx Space exploits, the Cregneash Apollo mission and the MEA space programme! Hon David Cretney MHK, Minister for Community, Culture and Leisure commented: “I thoroughly enjoyed Friday night’s ‘Pie in the Sky’. Conditions were perfect and it is amazing just how much of the night sky you can see from Snaefell summit. Having Howard and his team there to point out specific constellations, planets and stars and the satellites passing overhead was very educating. This has been another hugely successful event by Isle of Man Railways and something I hope to repeat next year.” -Ends-