Stargazing Live! Post Episode Review

On the whole I thought the episodes were very good and aimed at the right audience. Brian Cox was especially enthusiastic and I was very impressed with Dara O Briain who added sensible humour so it made the discussions credible and interesting. I would have liked to have seen a few more 'how to' guides from BBC The One Show's resident astronomer Mark Thompson but he did a good job of explaining some of the basics on observing and what equipment to use. It was fun watching Jonathan Ross being given a brief tour of the night sky by Mark.

Shame the weather wasn't great down here in London so unfortunately I missed the Partial eclipse at sunrise on Tuesday 4th. However the due to cloud the effect was such that it was noticeably darker than normal driving to work. If it was clear the darkening effect might have gone unnoticed.

As well as screening the episodes the BBC encouraged astronomical societies all over the uk to host public observing events and lectures to fire the public imagination and get them involved in the subject.

I would love to see another set of these Stargazing Live episodes again, perhaps later on the year. Perhaps it could coincide with a Star Party like the one in September at Kelling Heath.

Stargazing Live!

The BBC are showing three episodes over three days dedicated to amateur astronomy. This coincides with a partial solar eclipse which can be seen from the UK and occurs on the morning of Tuesday 4th January.
Astronomer and host of the series 'Wonders of the Solar System' Brian Cox teams up with celebrity guests Dara O Briain and Jonathan Ross to talk about how to get started in astronomy and stargazing. 
Events are are taking place all over the country and some observatories around the world are also taking part. To find your nearest event see the Events page on the Beeb website. 
Happy observing!