During our leg of the voyage between Los Angeles and Auckland we were very fortunate to have Howard Parkin a renowned Astronomer on board the ship. Howard is a founder and former chairman of the IOM Astronomical Society, also a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a published author and the International Dark Skies Ambassador for the Isle of man. In other words, an expert on Astronomy. During his time on board Howard did numerous lectures on a variety of space related issues that were amazing and well received by us and our travel companions.
In addition to conducting lectures Howard would go up on the top deck every night that we were at sea and do impromptu presentations on the night sky and point out the various stars and constellations. Many of us were excited about seeing the night sky in the southern hemisphere and more specifically seeing the “Southern Cross”. We crossed the equator on January 20 giving us 11 nights before he disembarked in Auckland, New Zealand to see the night sky and hear Howard’s commentary. It wasn’t until January 31 that we had a clear enough night to get a clear view of the night sky, but boy was it worth the wait.
Thanks Howard Parking for the amazing presentations and for sharing not only your expertise, but your love for space and astronomy.
Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune 
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