The BBC’s annual Stargazing Live event returns tonight on BBC2 at 8PM for its 4th series and is followed by a half-hour Q&A session where viewers can get answers on various astronomy questions from a panel of experts.
The event runs over 3 nights, Tue, January 7th to Thursday, January 9th, 2013.
Episode 1 (Tuesday – tonight):
In the most ambitious series to date, Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain are back at Jodrell Bank Observatory, in the first of three live shows with the latest news and the best views of the night sky.
This time the team have taken on an astonishing challenge – to capture one of the top highlights of the solar system – the mysterious and elusive northern lights. But will the lights reveal themselves? Liz Bonnin reports live from within the Arctic Circle, joining aurora researchers in northern Norway, who will help her unravel the secrets of this eerie spectacle.
Brian and Dara have the very latest weather reports from around the solar system. They welcome celebrated NASA scientist Dr Carolyn Porco, who shares some of the most jaw-dropping pictures of the solar system ever beamed back to Earth: Saturn’s gigantic storms and baffling hexagonal clouds taken by the Cassini probe.
Dara witnesses the launch of a new NASA mission to Mars, while resident stargazer Mark Thompson chases clear skies to show the best of what there is to see above the UK.
And if the January weather is not for you, you can help the team search for undiscovered galaxies from the comfort of your own living room.
Episode 2 (Wednesday, Jan 8th):
Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain host the second night of their three-day stargazing extravaganza from Jodrell Bank Observatory, where they are joined by two generations of astronauts. Walt Cunningham was part of one of the first ever crews to fly an Apollo spacecraft into orbit, while Commander Chris Hadfield recently returned from months aboard the International Space Station.
Liz Bonnin attempts a world-first, reporting live from a plane 28,000 feet above the Arctic Circle, as she steps up her mission to capture the Northern Lights.
Dara finds out how it feels to be truly weightless on the infamous ‘vomit comet’ aeroplane (this should be good! 🙂 ). Brian describes how scientists are tackling the problem of interstellar travel, and the team reveal never-before-seen images from around the solar system.
Meanwhile, resident astronomer Mark Thompson navigates using the stars, and takes an unprecedented look at the 400-year-old giant storm on Jupiter, as it moves into view live during the programme.
Episode 3 (Thursday, Jan 9th):
Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain raise the stakes in the final night of their astronomy extravaganza, and reveal the results of their viewers’ challenge to find undiscovered galaxies at the edge of space.
Reporting live from above the clouds in Norway, Liz Bonnin has one last chance to capture the spectacular Northern Lights, using super-sensitive cameras.
Brian reveals why no-one really knows what our own galaxy, the Milky Way, really looks like, and how the remarkable Gaia space probe is set to change all that by mapping a billion of our neighbouring stars.
With his sights set on a weekend break to a distant planet, Dara prepares to suffer as he straps himself into a human centrifuge to find out whether humans can accelerate to light speed.
Meanwhile, resident astronomer Mark Thompson joins thousands of amateur astronomers at one of the spectacular stargazing parties taking place across the country, and looks ahead at the treats the night sky has in store over the year.
Other Concurrent Events
You can find events here to coincide with StarGazing Live in the UK and Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, the Irish Astronomical Association (IAA) are holding a local event at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra, starting from the onset of reasonable darkness. This will feature observing, starshows in the mobile planetarium (courtesy of Armagh Planetarium), telescope and meteorite displays, star walks, an artificial aurora, lots of hands-on activities, and many more items. Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, QUB’s ARC, and W5, among others, will also be featuring.
Running concurrently with the BBC2 event at Cultra (7 – 9 p.m.) will be another 2 hour live radio broadcast on Radio Ulster, presented by Anne-Marie McAleese. This will feature interviews with lots of local people involved in the event, and Terry Mosely (Pres. of the IAA) will be on-call throughout to do updates on what is happening, and answer questions from the public.
Various clips from all 4 series can be watched here.
And the home page for the StarGazing Live event is here.
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