Episode guide
The Sky at Night: 1979
13 episodes · premiered Jan 10, 1979
TMDB has no overview for this season.
- Episode 1: Venus Explored Jan 10, 1979 In December, six American and two Russian space-craft reached Venus. With its dense atmosphere, its searing hot surface and its clouds of deadly sulphuric acid, this strange planet is…
- Episode 2: The Man who Mapped the Nebulae Feb 5, 1979 All astronomers know of the catalogue of star-clusters and nebulae compiled 200 years ago by Charles Messier ; and ' hunting the M objects' is a favourite amateur pastime. Tonight Patrick…
- Episode 3: Is Life on Earth Unique? Mar 8, 1979 Most scientists believe that intelligent life is common in the Universe. But the creation of life requires special conditions, which could be much less frequent than is usually thought…
- Episode 4: The Space Between the Stars Apr 4, 1979 Is space empty? Astronomers used to think so, but it is now known that there is a tremendous amount of material spread between the stars. Even complex molecules are found there. This…
- Episode 5: Voyager to Jupiter May 2, 1979 When Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter in March of this year, it sent back results which surprised even the space-planners. The famous Red Spot was shown as a huge whirling storm, while one of…
- Episode 6: Looking at the Weather from Space May 30, 1979 'Is it going to rain today?' 'Will it be a sunny weekend? ' The British are famous for discussing the weather. Its vagaries are part of our lives, and we all watch the forecasts. 1957 saw…
- Episode 7: X-Rays from Space Jun 27, 1979 On 2 June the new all-British satellite, Ariel 6, was put into orbit more than 600 km above the earth's surface. Like its highly successful predecessor, Ariel 5, one of its main tasks will…
- Episode 8: Voyager 2 Reaches Jupiter Jul 24, 1979 Voyager 2, the latest Jupiter probe, made its rendezvous with the Giant Planet on 9 July. Following the outstanding success of its predecessor, Voyager 1, the results were expected to be…
- Episode 9: The Zodiac Aug 21, 1979 Aries, the ram ... Taurus, the bull ... Gemini, the twins ... These are three of the constellations of the Zodiac, the belt stretching round the sky in which the Sun, the Moon and the…
- Episode 10: Pioneer to Saturn Sep 19, 1979 The American probe Pioneer II. which by-passed the planet Jupiter in 1974, made the closest approach to Saturn on 1 September 1979. after a journey which has taken it right across the…
- Episode 11: Observing the Sun Oct 18, 1979 From the country, the skies are dark and the stars shine out brilliantly, but city-dwellers can never see the stars well. Fortunately the Sun can be studied telescopically, and at present…
- Episode 12: The Message of Starlight Nov 22, 1979 Not all stars are alike: some are red, some yellow and some white. These different colours show their different temperatures, and by using spectroscopes it is possible to find out what…
- Episode 13: UFOs - fact or fantasy? Dec 11, 1979 Patrick Moore and Michael Bentine discuss UFOs - fact or fantasy? What are the unidentified flying objects which have been so much in the news in recent years? Are they spacecraft from…