Now that I work in astronomy professionally, it’s all about telescopes, politics, publishing, proposals. I easily forget what got me into this game: looking up at the stars and wondering what the heck is out there, or reading about relativity and going: “huh?”.

This past week the UK collectively discovered its love for stargazing with the help of the BBC and a whole lot of keen astronomers. Professionals and amateurs took part in Stargazing events all over the country, and even more watched along on TV. 3.8 million of them, apparently, which is amazing.

Lots of my on- and offline friends and colleagues were on the air, and I was really disappointed I couldn’t watch, as I’m abroad and no TV. Some years ago I spent a summer at the BBC working on a similar programme (yes, I even met Brian Cox) and I have a lot of fun memories from that time. But anyway, I hope lots of you enjoyed watching or taking part, whether you’re an old hand in the business or an astro-newbie.

Planethunters, Milky Way Project‘s cousin in the Zooniverse family, got some special attention, as new volunteers signed up in droves to carry out almost 1.1 million new classifications in 48 hours. As a result, the Planethunters team were able to announce the discovery of a potential new exoplanet by a Stargazing viewer.

This great little video’s been doing the rounds on the interwebs, created on the back of BBC Stargazing, showing how and why we simulate galaxies. It was created by Oxford astronomer Andrew Pontzen, who featured on the programme.