We are all in the gutter . . .

. . . but some of us, are doing a fantastic course in astronomy at the Planetarium.

Me and my flatmate are doing a five week course, "The Winter Night Sky" organised through Glasgow University's Adult Learning scheme. Last night was the first night and it was really enjoyable. Playing to a packed house of 110 happy spectators, our guide Steve Owens (Head of the Planetarium) was extremely interesting and infectiously enthusiastic. His passion for the subject was very evident and he offered to answer questions from the audience before the class, during the class, at the break, after the class or by via email between classes happily handing out his email address to everyone. I hope for his sake we don't all start emailing in with questions immediately.

If you've never been to the planetarium you really should give it a go. You lie back in large comfy chairs, looking up at the huge white dome ceiling. As the lights dim, the ceiling appears to vanish and a spectacular vista of stars hangs all around you in a crystal clear precision that sadly we don't see very often in real life. When the stars first began to sparkle above us and the milky way revealed itself, there was an audible wow from the audience and as I looked about the room, everyone had big grins on their faces like little kids.

As I mentioned above the lecture itself was excellent, covering a simple introduction to astronomy and pointing out some of the more well known constellations - Orion, the plough etc. Steve then explained about the changes that you can see in the sky, from the passage of the sun and planets, to the waxing of the moon. As he talked people shouted out questions and we would shoot off into intriguing tangents but always returning to the main topic. Sadly, if you think this all sounds like fun, I'm afraid this particular course is fully booked, but I'd recommend contacting the Science Centre and finding out about any other classes that are on.

While you can attend the planetarium during a visit to the Science Centre - the day time talks are aimed at kids and though you will get the wow factor of just seeing the dome in work, the shows only last 30 mins, which just isn't long enough to take it all in, so a longer course is best.

If you don't feel like committing to a full 5 or 10 week class however, there are also monthly lectures on the last Thursday of the month. The next one therefore is on Thursday the 25th at 7pm. Booking is essential so call 0871 540 1000. Tickets are £4.95.