Island astronomer Howard Parkin was among the passengers on the maiden voyage of a new cruise liner, which is one of the first to feature its own planetarium.

Mr Parkin, a well-known figure in the island’s Asronomical Society, is the Viking Ships’ resident astronomer and is currently on board the new 930-passenger Viking ship, Orion.

’I have been lecturing as a enrichment speaker on astronomy on cruise ships since 2011, and first lectured on a Viking ship, the Viking Sea, in October 2016,’ he said.

’I was approached by Viking early last year and was asked about my becoming the Viking resident astronomer and about the possibility of working with them on the installation and operation of the planetarium on board the new Viking Orion.’

Mr Parkin said he would be giving regular talks and last year visited the headquarters of Evans and Sutherland who through their European agents, Skypoint, installed the digital 3D high-definition 26-seat planetarium on board.

The design and size of the installation give it the highest resolution of any planetarium in the world. It also has a mechanically-isolated dome, which means steady images can be projected using the planetarium’s five projectors, even when the vessel is rolling in rough seas.

It is only the second ship to feature an on-board planetarium, the first was Cunard’s Queen Mary, and the feature was kept strictly secret for over a year while the ship was being built. ’While on board my duties, as well as lecturing, include undertaking stargazing on deck using a six-inch refracting telescope that can be used to look at features and objects in the night sky,’ he said.

’My lectures cover all aspects of astronomy and space flight and include the history of astronomy, NASA, the Hubble space telescope, cosmology, constellations, exploring Mars, meteors and comets and the aurora to name just a few.

’All have been done on cruise ships in the past, and the first three are being delivered on the VIking Orion for this cruise.’

Mr Parkin and his wife, Sandra, joined the ship in Venice earlier this month, before going to Rome and starting the ship’s VIP ’christening cruise’.

The official naming ceremony was carried out by chemist and former NASA astronaut Dr Anna Fisher.

The ship’s official maiden voyage is now under way, after which Mr and Mrs Parkin leave the ship but rejoin it in the Far East in October.