Catch up TV
Review of the Year
Chris and Maggie look back at some of the stories they have covered in 2021 in the Sky at Night’s big review of the year.\n\nIn February, three missions arrived at Mars. A spacecraft from the UAE settled into its orbit, and rovers from China and the US touched down on the planet’s surface. Nasa’s Perseverance rover sent back stunning pictures of the red planet. We look again at those images and discuss the work of the first extraterrestrial helicopter, Perseverance’s robot buddy Ingenuity.\n\nThe Winchcombe Meteorite burst into our atmosphere and onto our screens at the end of March. We look again at the work of the dramatically titled Fireball Alliance – a nationwide group of cameras coordinated by scientists in anticipation of this sort of event. Thanks to them, the precious meteorite was quickly located in pristine condition. Chris reports on the research that has been undertaken since this untouched fragment of the early universe was recovered.\n\nIn the summer, we went to the National Space Centre in Leicester to look at the work of, and spectacular pictures taken by, the Juno Mission to Jupiter. There, we also met Professor Emma Bunce, who is one of the leaders of a new mission, called Juice, to Jupiter’s icy moons. Professor Bunce explained that these missions are unavoidably lengthy because of the distances involved and the complexity of the technology. But the potential rewards are enormous. Juice may provide the elusive evidence of extraterrestrial life in our solar system.\n\nAnother mission, BepiColumbo - en route to Mercury – was in the news in October, when it made the initial flypast of its target, sending back its amazing first glimpses of the planet. Maggie discovers more about the mission from one of the team, Dr Suzie Imber of the University of Leicester, in an interview recorded specially for this review episode.\n\nIn June, we featured the work of the British space industry, and in light of recent space debris stories in the news, we look again at the work of Anglo-Japanese company Astroscale, which talked to the programme about their mission to clean up the congested low earth orbits.\n\nIn September, Dallas Campbell discovered the sound of the original Tardis in the bar of the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford, where we held our Question Time edition of the show. It’s where Pete Lawrence was revealed as astronomical consultant to Radio 4’s The Archers, and where he gave us his night sky viewing guide to 2022.\n\nFinally, another first for this remarkable show. We hear a song recorded by Yes founder member Peter Banks and his band Empire in 1974. It is called The Sky at Night and was inspired by the show.\n\nThat is all for this year. The Sky at Night is back in 2022, when it starts the sixty-sixth consecutive year in its record-breaking continuous run on air.
Source: BBC 4
Most recent episodes of The Sky at Night
The Sky At Night
Asteroid Strike?
The team explore one of the biggest stories in space news, the ‘city killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4. First observed on 27 December 2024, it soon became one of the biggest ...
17-04-2025
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Ancestral Skies
This month, The Sky at Night teams up with BBC Ideas to discover the secrets of archaeology and astronomy and to reflect on our ancestral skies. \n\nThroughout history and acros ...
14-11-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Question Time Special
Get ready for The Sky at Night’s annual Question Time Special, where viewers get the opportunity to ask the questions they have always wanted answered about our universe.\ ...
08-10-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
2075: Our Place In Space
The Sky at Night is embarking on a journey into the future as we explore how space will revolutionise life on Earth over the next 50 years. As humanity's reach extends into the ...
11-09-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Nicky, Nasa And The Next Frontier
In this Sky at Night special, the team talk to Dr Nicola Fox, NASA’s head of science, whose life began in the UK.\n\nPresenter Chris Lintott chats to Nicky about her early ...
15-08-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Webb Telescope: The Story So Far
In July 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope released its first images. They were visually stunning, and it was clear they provided more detail of stars, galaxies and planets th ...
11-07-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Cosmic Ghosts
This month, The Sky at Night has a spooky twist. Across the universe, there are hidden objects that we can’t see, but astronomers and scientists still believe they’r ...
13-06-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Hiding In Starlight
Total solar eclipses, like the one seen last month in North America, allow us to see details of the Sun that can’t be seen at any other time. So, this month, The Sky at Ni ...
16-05-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Space Rock Return
The Sky at Night is back for a brand new series, and this month it is delving into Nasa’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which last year brought back a sample from the near-Earth ast ...
11-04-2024
BBC 4
Most popular episodes of The Sky at Night
The Sky At Night
Asteroid Strike?
The team explore one of the biggest stories in space news, the ‘city killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4. First observed on 27 December 2024, it soon became one of the biggest ...
17-04-2025
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Question Time Special
A special Question Time edition of the programme, recorded at the University of Exeter as part of the British Science Association’s Science Festival.\n\nThe panel is chair ...
12-10-2023
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Impacts
The team looks at the cosmic impacts which have shaped the universe around us, from asteroids crashing into the surface of the moon to galaxies colliding with each other.
15-06-2014
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Guides: 2. Galaxies
Galaxies are the building blocks of the universe. Our solar system sits inside a huge galaxy that we call the Milky Way - home to as many as 300 billion stars. But the Milky Way ...
11-08-2019
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
The Uk Space Race
The Sky at Night team investigates the incredible science and engineering helping the UK to blast into space. We are now one of the biggest satellite building nations in the wor ...
15-06-2023
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Nicky, Nasa And The Next Frontier
In this Sky at Night special, the team talk to Dr Nicola Fox, NASA’s head of science, whose life began in the UK.\n\nPresenter Chris Lintott chats to Nicky about her early ...
15-08-2024
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Will An Asteroid Destroy Earth?
The Sky at Night team explores the threat of an asteroid impact on earth. Around 2,300 asteroids have been identified as ‘potentially hazardous’, and it’s tho ...
18-05-2023
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Death Star
One evening in early September 1859, a spectacular blood-red aurora borealis appeared across America. Earlier that same day, in a leafy garden in the UK, a gentleman astronomer ...
16-08-2018
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
The Mystery Of 'oumuamua
In October 2017, astronomers made a spectacular discovery - they spotted the first ever object to visit our solar system from outer space. They gave it a suitably exotic name... ...
15-02-2018
BBC 4