I see they'll be talking about the Northern Lights, which have always interested me. The only problem is that section will be done by the hugely irritating Liz Bonnin who's apparently up in northern Norway.
I actually find the Stargazing programme itself quite boring and prefer the discussion afterwards when the scientists sit around with booze. That bit clashes with The 7:39 on BBC1 though so will have to watch it on the iplayer.
I see they'll be talking about the Northern Lights, which have always interested me. The only problem is that section will be done by the hugely irritating Liz Bonnin who's apparently up in northern Norway.
I actually find the Stargazing programme itself quite boring and prefer the discussion afterwards when the scientists sit around with booze. That bit clashes with The 7:39 on BBC1 though so will have to watch it on the iplayer.
Pete Lawrence is also up in Norway, I think Liz is going to be in a plane and Pete perhaps trying to photograph from the ground.
If I remember correctly, last year they had fog so thick you couldn't see the radio telescope only a few metres away from the studio so there was no actual stargazing
If I remember correctly, last year they had fog so thick you couldn't see the radio telescope only a few metres away from the studio so there was no actual stargazing
Makes no difference: cloudy or clear. Although the programme is called Stargazing Live, so far the amount of time they've devoted to showing people the actual sky: as you can see it yourself, in the UK, for real, "live" or recorded, has been measured in milliseconds.
Makes no difference: cloudy or clear. Although the programme is called Stargazing Live, so far the amount of time they've devoted to showing people the actual sky: as you can see it yourself, in the UK, for real, "live" or recorded, has been measured in milliseconds.
In fairness they've given up on that due to the unpredictability of the weather. Was it last year or the year before when they got a village to turn off all their lighting? the weather the day before and after was great but on the night it was clouded over.
It was one of the main reasons Patrick Moore gave up on doing it when the SaN was done live years ago and why they usually send a crew to somewhere like Hawaii or The Canary Islands so as to guarantee the weather.
In fairness they've given up on that due to the unpredictability of the weather.
Agreed. Although if you were to choose the absolute worst time of year for clear skies, you'd pick winter - and it's bruddy freezin' too - and there are many (most?) places that have a better chance of clear nights than Manchester / N.W. So although I'm sure the programme makers neither actively sabotaged the show, nor had much choice in when it would go out (desire for darkness at a child-friendly time - though you'd have to ask: why? since they don't / won't / can't exploit it) they couldn't really have picked a worse time to have it.
However, they've run the show at the same time for the past 3 years and not felt the need to reschedule - so they must be happy with the near impossibilty of living up to the title.
One does feel that it shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to do a quick "here's one we made earlier" and have some stargazing: even if it's not live. One out of two is better than 3 (going on for a fourth, now) successive ducks.
I looked outside at around 6 pm today, and the only star/planet was one big shiny one, roughly north east in the sky. Any idea what it could be?
That would be Jupiter, if you've got some binoculars take a look and you should see the 4 Galilean moons as well. You probably won't make out any detail with bins though.
Agreed. Although if you were to choose the absolute worst time of year for clear skies, you'd pick winter - and it's bruddy freezin' too - and there are many (most?) places that have a better chance of clear nights than Manchester / N.W. So although I'm sure the programme makers neither actively sabotaged the show, nor had much choice in when it would go out (desire for darkness at a child-friendly time - though you'd have to ask: why? since they don't / won't / can't exploit it) they couldn't really have picked a worse time to have it.
However, they've run the show at the same time for the past 3 years and not felt the need to reschedule - so they must be happy with the near impossibility of living up to the title.
One does feel that it shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to do a quick "here's one we made earlier" and have some stargazing: even if it's not live. One out of two is better than 3 (going on for a fourth, now) successive ducks.
I don't know what the original reasoning was to do it in the winter, it might have been when Brian Cox was originally available, it might have been that if the skies were clear people could go out and see something, especially if young kids are watching, whilst the skies are dark rather than later in the evening as it would be in the summer.
I don't know if Jodrell Bank asked for it to be done them for some reason, I agree though they could do some filming of stuff to fill in, they could use the Sky at night team to do some stuff like basic astro photography, things like the Moore Moon marathon etc. are good.
The original impression I got though was they wanted to distance themselves from the Sky at night for some reason, like it was Cox's pet project or something.
That would be Jupiter, if you've got some binoculars take a look and you should see the 4 Galilean moons as well. You probably won't make out any detail with bins though.
Thanks - it's good to know it's Jupiter. It has clouded over here now, though, so there's nothing to be seen.
Rodney McKay
Posts: 8,143
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It does show that the BBC is committed to the subject and fair enough that Sky at Night is having a month off if this is on.
I think last year it was getting around 4 million viewers which is very good, especially for BBC 2
I actually find the Stargazing programme itself quite boring and prefer the discussion afterwards when the scientists sit around with booze. That bit clashes with The 7:39 on BBC1 though so will have to watch it on the iplayer.
Pete Lawrence is also up in Norway, I think Liz is going to be in a plane and Pete perhaps trying to photograph from the ground.
Yes she's on at some point this week along with Chris Lintott don't know if it's the main show or the chat after.
Radio Times http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/crhqd8/stargazing-live--series-4---episode-1
Makes no difference: cloudy or clear. Although the programme is called Stargazing Live, so far the amount of time they've devoted to showing people the actual sky: as you can see it yourself, in the UK, for real, "live" or recorded, has been measured in milliseconds.
In fairness they've given up on that due to the unpredictability of the weather. Was it last year or the year before when they got a village to turn off all their lighting? the weather the day before and after was great but on the night it was clouded over.
It was one of the main reasons Patrick Moore gave up on doing it when the SaN was done live years ago and why they usually send a crew to somewhere like Hawaii or The Canary Islands so as to guarantee the weather.
However, they've run the show at the same time for the past 3 years and not felt the need to reschedule - so they must be happy with the near impossibilty of living up to the title.
One does feel that it shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to do a quick "here's one we made earlier" and have some stargazing: even if it's not live. One out of two is better than 3 (going on for a fourth, now) successive ducks.
That would be Jupiter, if you've got some binoculars take a look and you should see the 4 Galilean moons as well. You probably won't make out any detail with bins though.
I don't know what the original reasoning was to do it in the winter, it might have been when Brian Cox was originally available, it might have been that if the skies were clear people could go out and see something, especially if young kids are watching, whilst the skies are dark rather than later in the evening as it would be in the summer.
I don't know if Jodrell Bank asked for it to be done them for some reason, I agree though they could do some filming of stuff to fill in, they could use the Sky at night team to do some stuff like basic astro photography, things like the Moore Moon marathon etc. are good.
The original impression I got though was they wanted to distance themselves from the Sky at night for some reason, like it was Cox's pet project or something.
I can understand his gibbering. I just don't like his presence on the show. He can't keep his mouth shut for more than two seconds.
Thanks - it's good to know it's Jupiter. It has clouded over here now, though, so there's nothing to be seen.
Bet it's quite a few £1000s
Would be nice!
http://www.globalimagination.com/
http://www.globalimagination.com/products.html
http://www.vivifeye.com/education/magic_planet.pdf
Yes, can't take my eyes off it.