Here's a great question for a pub quiz or around the Boxing Day lunch table: what is the name of the closest star to the Earth after the sun?
The Proxima Centauri turns out to be 4.2 light years away from us, which doesn't sound far until you learn that each light year is equivalent to travelling six million million miles. I somehow think we won't be visiting Proxima Centauri in my life time.
You learn of old Proxima C as part of the Visions of the Universe exhibition running at Southampton’s SeaCity Museum until February.
Visiting from the Royal Museums Greenwich, the exhibition is of images of the heavens from the earliest hand-drawings to photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope to the latest footage from the Mars Curiosity Rover.
It is the latest attempt by the museum – funded by some £5m of tax-payers money – to draw in visitors with exhibitions that are more populist than some that might take space at the adjoining City Art Gallery.
As such, Visions of the Universe while it may not take the breath away, is fair attempt to boldly go, but still lacks a little of the drama of the limitless wonder of the universe I felt.
Some of the images are in fact rather down to Earth with, admittedly, stunning photographs of the night sky as seen from our own planet. No easy task with so much light pollution from our urban lives. Blazing Bristlecones by Tom Lowe taken in California and Northern Lights seen from Norway, are stand out images.
The Sombrero Galaxy taken from the Hubble Space Telescope looks, well, like a huge sombrero. And the Veil Nebula, the wreckage of a star that exploded as a supernova some 5,000 years ago is a glorious cosmic mess.
• Visit the SeaCity Museum website for more details.
Mars has ice caps we see, and Venus stripped of her veil of swirling clouds is pretty ugly.
Not surprisingly the stars of the show are closer to home. Swirling images of the Earth at night and the faces of the Moon dominate walls of the exhibition. A huge image of the sun captured through ultra violet light is spellbinding.
On the whole the exhibition is well worth the £5 entry fee for adults (£9.50 to include the rest of the museum), and may well cash in on the renewed fascination with space and the universe that is bound to accompany the release of the new Star Wars movie next month.
For those looking to learn more of what surrounds us the exhibition includes a number of fascinating fact boards – the Hubble telescope can spot galaxies 13 billion lights years away we are informed.
Whether it truly fulfils the museum’s ambition to capture a wider audience remains to be seen. The total number of visitors attendant when I dropped in was five and I found myself travelling alone for most of the time, which was I suppose fitting for an exhibition that attempts to capture the immense loneliness of space.
• Visions of the Universe runs until February 21.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here