Managed to find the email with the download link and licence number for Starry Night Digital Download 6. I was a little apprehensive as I couldn't remember if this had been one of those pieces of software that they expect you to pay a fee solely to keep the download link active for future downloads, but it all OK and I have installed it on the laptop. It was a worryingly slow process with nothing on screen for many minutes between certain parts of the install and just HDD activity to suggest something was still going on.

Between the install and the setup once the program was in, the whole deal must have taken over two hours. I also, reluctantly, uninstalled Carina Software's Voyager as I guess there's not going to be anything doing in the absence of any contact from them. I read somewhere that Starry Night could be quite demanding on processor resources but it seems to want no more than 12-15% of CPU resources which I think, with everything else shut down, except Word to keep some notes in, should give me a couple of hours outside on the battery. Now I've had chance to have a look at it, it would suggest that it was not Mars that's near to the moon right now (never said I was Galileo!) but Jupiter(?). I need to get out more! Late at night, when it's dark, with a telescope.

I see Starry Night Pro claims to be able to drive 'most popular computerised telescopes', if anyone is using this software with a Celestron NexStar 130 SLT I would love to hear of their experiences?

Since the last time I was out my next door neighbour has hacked the Leylandii on our border, bring them down from close on 30' down to a more astronomy friendly 8-10', giving me a lower horizon to WNW. Every little helps.