Add
Private Notes
This first Sky at Night of 2009 is a celebration of the humble (and Hubble) telescope, which is now 400 years old. It all began with Galileo . . . or did it? Patrick Moore furrows his brow over the news that an Englishman may have invented the first. Over the last 50 years Patrick has visited almost all of the worlds large telescopes, and there is some archive footage of some of these visits.
Meanwhile, Chris Lintott visits some mighty examples in the USA, and astronaut Jeff Hoffman describes how he repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. Preparations are underway in NASA's watertanks for the next repair/update mission, which NASA hopes to be the last, because the next space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to succeed it.
In a unique visite we get to see how 10m glass mirrors are cast and polished under the Arizona Wildcats Football stadium, and talks about the future of Extremely Large Telescopes.
Chris lintott visits northern Norway to see how the Aurora Borealis is created; Patrick discovers how the Sun calls the tune for these 'merry dancers'.
Saturn's mysterious moon Enceladus has startled astronomers with its amazing ice geysers, which spew out material into space. Sir Patrick Moore talks to the scientists who are trying to unlock the secrets of this tiny world.
Dr Chris Lintott visits the Open University to find out the latest on our own Moon. He meets scientists from the Japanese Kaguya mission and the Indian Chandrayaan mission, with its British instrument CIXS.
Patrick Moore discusses what Herschel, Europe's biggest and most expensive space satellite, will do once it begins its infrared exploration of the universe.
Dr Chris Lintott gets a rare chance to see the Herschel mirror, which at 3.5 metres will be the biggest astronomical mirror ever to be sent into space.
Every day, asteroids whiz past the Earth on their journey through space. Sir Patrick Moore discusses the chances of a close encounter with an asteroid, after telescopes recently got a unique view of an asteroid disintegrating in our atmosphere.
Containing trillions of stars, Andromeda is the largest galaxy in our neighbourhood. It is 2.5 million light years away, yet is still visible to the naked eye. Sir Patrick Moore and his guests unravel some of the mysteries in the star systems that surround us and look at the latest discoveries from our local galaxies.
Forty years on, Patrick Moore and guests discuss the achievements of the Apollo programme.
Sir Patrick Moore, with the help of Pete Lawrence and the latest pictures, investigates the longest total eclipse of the sun for many years, which took place in India and China in July 2009.
In orbit around Saturn, the Cassini probe has sent back amazing new images, and there's a new discovery on the moon Enceladus. Chris Lintott reports from the latest Cassini conference in London and finds out why there is a sprinkling of table salt in the rings of Saturn.
In July 2009, a mysterious large object crashed into Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, leaving behind a scar in the gas cloud the size of the Earth. Sir Patrick Moore examines this new feature with Jupiter experts John Rogers and David Rothery. Imaging experts Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel compete to capture the best images of the gas giant, while Chris Lintott has this month's news notes.
Following the Hubble space telescope's overhaul, Sir Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott examine its latest findings and the data from NASA's other telescopes, Spitzer and Chandra. Pete Lawrence observes the spiral galaxies M31 and M33 and explains how they owe their enigmatic names to an 18th-century French comet hunter.
Observers now know there is water on the Moon, but how much? NASA's new LCROSS probe into the lunar surface will find out. Chris Lintott visits the Palomar observatory in California to witness the probe's impact, while Patrick Moore views it with friends from his home in Selsey. Can the Moon really support life?
For centuries, astronomers, writers and philosophers have speculated about life on the planet Mars, but we have learned more about our near neighbour in the last 30 years than at any time in human history. Sir Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott explore the Red Planet.
Winter is approaching and, with longer nights, it is the perfect time to get outside to enjoy the wonders of the night sky. Sir Patrick Moore is joined by Dr Chris Lintott and Pete Lawrence, plus a host of stargazers searching for the best the winter skies have to offer.
For centuries, astronomers, writers and philosophers have speculated about life on the planet Mars, but we have learned more about our near neighbour in the last 30 years than at any time in human history. Sir Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott explore the Red Planet.
Winter is approaching and, with longer nights, it is the perfect time to get outside to enjoy the wonders of the night sky. Sir Patrick Moore is joined by Dr Chris Lintott and Pete Lawrence, plus a host of stargazers searching for the best the winter skies have to offer.
