We're used to thinking that the universe operates on timescales of millions or even billions of years, where change happens with imperceptible slowness. But now we've discovered a whole catalogue of events that happen over much shorter times - seconds or even milliseconds. And these sudden, transient occurrences are among the most mysterious, powerful and destructive events in the universe. Observing them has raised exciting new questions about the way the universe works.\n\nThis month The Sky at Night explores this world of transient phenomena. We hear more about the explosive event that created the recently detected gravitational wave - the collision of two neutron stars. And Chris spends 24 hours at the SWIFT space telescope base in Leicester in an attempt to detect a gamma ray burst - the most powerful and extreme short-term event known.\n\nMaggie goes to meet the team that are searching for the mysterious, barely understood transient phenomena called fast radio bursts. And Lucie Green reveals that some important short-term phenomena can occur much closer to home too.\n\nAstronomy used to be about staring up at the unchanging sky, so this search for transitory objects is truly revolutionary. It's time to enter the spectacular world of astronomy that takes place... in the blink of an eye...
Source: BBC 4
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
The Sky At Night Meets The Infinite Monkey Cage
In this special episode to mark the end of another season of The Sky at Night, we team up with Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage to talk all things amateur astronomy. Joi ...
16-11-2023
BBC 4
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 Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope – or VLT – has been responsible for some of the greatest astronomical breakthroughs of all time, discoveries that have resulted in Nobel Pri ...
13-09-2023
BBC 4
Black Holes: Searching For The Unknown
There has never been a more exciting time to study one of the most mysterious phenomena in space. This month, The Sky at Night team investigate the science of black holes and di ...
17-08-2023
BBC 4
Is There Anybody Out There?
The Sky at Night team investigates the controversial world of alien communication. The search for life on other planets is one of the most fascinating subjects in science. But w ...
13-07-2023
BBC 4
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
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 Search For Alien Life
The Sky at Night team investigate the latest science in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. Scientists have never been more obsessed with finding aliens than they are right now. ...
13-04-2023
BBC 4
What Have Ufos Done For Us?
From unexplained flashes in the night sky to flying saucers, this episode delves into the mysterious world of UFOs. How our drive to explain these bizarre phenomena, and desire ...
08-02-2015
BBC 4
Ice Giants
The team explores the vast frozen worlds of Uranus and Neptune, while astro-photographer Damian Peach shares his tips for capturing these jewels of the night sky.
12-10-2014
BBC 4
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
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
Outback Astronomy
In February 2018, news broke that astronomers had seen the cosmic dawn - the moment when stars first formed, flooding the universe with light. What's remarkable is that this inc ...
12-07-2018
BBC 4