The Sky at Night Season 14 Episodes

Episode 1

Wanderers in Space

In January a comet will be visible in the northern sky, bright enough to be seen without a telescope. Patrick Moore talks about comets and their appearances, also about Sir Edmund Halley - discoverer of Halley's Comet - with Colin Ronan.

Episode 2

Orion

The constellation of Orion the Hunter is conspicuous in the southern sky. Patrick talks about its many fascinating features, among them white giant stars, the old red giant Betelgeuse, and the gas-cloud where fresh stars are being formed.

Episode 3

The Crab Nebula

In the year 1054 a new star, or Supernova, appeared. It was a star so brilliant that it rivalled Venus and was said to be visible in daylight. It was 2 years before it faded away. Patrick talks to Dr. Vinicio Barocas about the Crab Nebula.

Episode 4

Total Eclipse in Mexico

Episode 5

Photography on the Moon

The Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts brought back colour photographs which provided information about the moon's surface and geology. But there are problems in taking photographs on the moon, Patrick Moore discusses these with H. J. P. Arnold.

Episode 6

When Mercury Crosses the Sun

On 9 May the tiny planet Mercury will be seen as a black dot in transit across the sun's disc. Because it orbits close to the sun, Mercury has always been difficult to observe, and astronomers can only guess at the nature of this planet.

Episode 7

Back Garden Observatories

Patrick examines the telescopes at Frank Acfield's back-garden observatory. Amateur astronomers with sophisticated equipment, small telescopes or binoculars - can find out what is visible at night during the summer and where to find it.

Episode 8

Steering by the Stars

Patrick examines some instruments used by ancient mariners to steer their ships by the stars, and discusses with James Burke the use of the stars by American astronauts and scientists to navigate the Apollo and Mariner Mars Spacecraft.

Episode 9

The Moons of Mars

The two tiny Moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are unlike any other astronomical bodies known to us. Too small to be satellites like our Moon, are they asteroids or minor planets? Patrick examines photographs from the Mars probe Mariner 7.

Episode 10

Astronomers in the Space Age

Patrick talks to some of the world's leading astronomers, who are attending an international conference at Brighton, about the spectacular growth in of our knowledge of the universe - and also about the huge problems still to be solved.

Episode 11

Moon Quakes!

The devastating results of earthquakes are well known, but recent observations have shown that the moon too has moon-quakes, and they are linked with the tidal effects of the earth on the moon.

Episode 12

Rockets to the Planet

Spacecraft have been to Mars and Venus. In the next 10 years other probes will explore Mercury, Jupiter and perhaps even to Pluto. Patrick discusses with Iain Nicolson the information and pictures we may get back from these missions.

Episode 13

Infra-Red Astronomy

Patrick Moore speaks to Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong and discusses infra-red astronomy, which is used to detect invisible starlight, with Professor James Ring. Dr Michael Selby, Stephen Owen and Mark Doomer demo an infra-red experiment.

Episode 14

Planets of Other Suns

Astronomers now think there must be planets circling many of the stars in the Universe, and that some planets could be inhabited. Patrick talks to Dr. Peter van de Kamp, who has already managed to detect two planets orbiting another star.