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The Sky at Night Season 31 Episodes
Season 31 Episode Guide
13 Episodes 1987 - 1987
Episode 1
Photographing the Sky
Can you take astronomical photographs with limited equipment? The surprising answer is yes. Patrick Moore talks to Douglas Arnold about what can be achieved with very limited photographic equipment.
Episode 2
The Study of Variable Stars
Patrick Moore describes how amateur astronomers work and reports on the variable star R Coronae, which periodically veils itself behind clouds of soot.
Episode 3
Stellar Catastrophe
Patrick Moore talks about Supernova 1987a, a star that exploded in the Large Magellanic Cloud in 1987, with his guest Dr Paul Murdin.
Episode 4
A Celebration
Special programme to mark the 30th anniversary of The Sky at Night. Patrick Moore presents a look back over the years, selecting some of the best footage from old programmes.
Episode 5
Air on Other Worlds
We need our atmosphere, without it, no life on earth could have appeared. Other worlds, have atmospheres of various kinds, some of them dense and corrosive, others incredibly thin. Patrick talks to Dr Garry Hunt about our neighbour worlds.
Episode 6
High Moon
The Earth and the Moon travel together round the Sun, but the movements of the Moon itself are not so straightforward as might be thought. Patrick Moore and Dr. Ron Maddison discuss the whole question of how the Moon moves.
Episode 7
The William Herschel Telescope
Patrick Moore visits the island of La Palma where the William Herschel Telescope is about to come into operation. It is not only the largest telescope in the world, but probably the most accurate.
Episode 8
The Roof of the World
A new telescope is operating at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, at 13,796 feet above sea level. It is the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, a sort of radio telescope designed to study regions of the universe where stars are being born.
Episode 9
The Hunt for Planet Ten
Is there a tenth planet? New evidence seems to indicate that there is in fact an extra member of the solar system, moving far beyond the paths of the most distant planets now known, Pluto and Neptune. Patrick Moore investigates.
Episode 10
The Exploding Star
Patrick Moore discusses the sighting of a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud with Dr Paul Murdin and Dr Russell Cannon.
Episode 11
Jodrell: The Listening Bank
Sir Patrick Moore reports on work at Jodrell Bank, the United Kingdom's foremost radio telescope.
Episode 12
A Telescope for Christmas?
Do you want to own an astronomical telescope? If so, you must take great care before purchasing. Patrick Moore offers advice to would-be buyers, and warns of some of the pitfalls.
Episode 13
Where Are the Stars?
What are the exact positions of the stars in the sky? How do they move, and how far away are they? These are the problems which will be studied from Hipparcos, an artificial satellite due to be launched in 1988.
