On the off-chance that you're a subscriber to @TheEconomist (as I am), you might be interested in listening to their latest Babbage podcast, hosted by Alok Jha, a journalist friend of mine since #Rosetta days 🚀🛰️☄️

The pretext for our conversation was my book, "111 Places in Space That You Must Not Miss", but if I recall the pre-Christmas recording well, we touched on many wider space-related topics too ✨🪐🌔🧑‍🚀

#111PlacesInSpace #Space #SpaceScience

https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2026/01/07/mark-mccaughrean-the-astronomers-guide-to-the-cosmos

A little more publicity for my book, #111PlacesInSpace, thanks to my friend Alok Jha, science & technology editor at @TheEconomist 🙇‍♂️

We recorded an interview for a future edition of their Babbage podcast this evening, & a very enjoyable chat it was too, covering some of the book's destinations, & a little space politics.

Alok & I first met around the Rosetta mission in 2014, & it's always a pleasure to talk with him. Plus I subscribe to The Economist, so it's a good fit 🙂

#Space #SpaceScience

It's that time of year, when Stage 0 ("just ignore it – it's ages away 🤷‍♂️") has turned to Stage 1 ("oh, if I must, but what? 🤨") 🎄🎅

So, here's a self-serving suggestion to help you avoid Stage 2 ("aaarrrggghhh 😱"):

Available in real shops & online ✅

Compact, easily wrapped form ✅

Not cheap, but not too expensive ✅

Short chapters for a short attention span world ✅

Make two people very happy (one of them me; thank you 🙇‍♂️) ✅

SPAAAAAAAACE! 🚀🛰️🔭👩‍🚀🌚🌞🪐💫✨

ISBN 978-3-7408-0601-9

#111PlacesInSpace

Well, that’s a new experience 😵‍💫

My first time at the Frankfurt Book Fair, spanning many huge exhibition halls & packed with vast numbers of public visitors. Overwhelming 🙀

My publishers, Emons Verlag, invited me for a talk about my book, along with journalist Martin Nusch, who has written one about 111 places to see on / connected to the Moon.

Lovely to meet the team & we sold & signed a few books too 👍

#111PlacesInSpace

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up 🤷‍♂️

While I was in Portugal last week, my friends Sue Nelson & Richard Hollingham published their latest Space Boffins podcast, including me talking about my book (again 🙂).

The word "boffin" & the associated "astroboffin" are peculiarly British, popularised during WW2.

Apparently the Institute of Physics believe its use puts youngsters off doing science & engineering, but I've always been proud of being a "boffin" 👨‍🔬

#111PlacesInSpace

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/astronomy-podcasts/space-boffins/life-white-mars-and-new-space

Time this Sunday morning for a walk with friends along the Tagus through the Parque do Nações in Lisbon, the site of Expo ‘98, to the Vasco de Gama bridge 🌉

And grilled fish for lunch one more time before heading home for some welcome cooler air & rain – what can I say, I’m a Celt 🤷‍♂️🙂

Obrigado, Portugal – see you soon again, I hope 🇵🇹🙇‍♂️

#Photography #Lisboa #111PlacesInSpace

Thank you very much to everyone who came to my talk at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon yesterday, & to my very kind friends who organised it, most of all my former PhD student, Cátia Cardoso 🇵🇹🙇‍♂️

It was a whistle stop tour through some of the locations in my book “111 Places in Space That You Must Not Miss”, & just for you Mr Amos, the slide count was 120 🙂

We had some excellent fish too 🐠

A few pictures from this Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPZcGUsCLCA/?img_index=9&igsh=MTJiOXE1bmhxZTlrbw==

#111PlacesInSpace

A busy but pleasant day in & around Lisbon 🇵🇹

Several hours of interviews, photos, social media stuff, & tech check at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento science centre ahead of my public talk tomorrow on my #111PlacesInSpace book for World Space Week.

Then over the Vasco de Gama bridge to the seaside town of Sesimbra for a very late lunch, Setubal to watch the sunset, & back to Lisbon via the 25 April bridge for an equally late dinner.

All with very good friends & #scicomm colleagues 🙇‍♂️

A silver lining to my train delay is a longer connection in Mannheim, giving me some bookshop time 📚

No sign of my book itself, but I did find a short but nice review in the popular astronomy magazine “Sterne und Weltraum” 🔭✨

Thanks to the editor, Andreas Müller, for picking it up & @mpi_astro masters student Vito Aberham for the review 🙇‍♂️

p.s. While my book wasn’t there, as a Baden-Württemberg resident, I was tempted by another from my publisher 🙂🍻

#111PlacesInSpace

Took these to Dénia in Spain 🇪🇸, & they all stayed there – thanks to those who came to my Rosetta talk, & who kindly bought the books afterwards 🙇‍♂️

And thanks to Christine & David Ord of the Costa Blanca Astronomy Society for the invitation, & the nice evening in town yesterday.

Next stop Lisbon later this week for another public talk at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento 🇵🇹

#RosettaLegacy #Photography
#111PlacesInSpace