In February, orbiters from China and the UAE settled into their positions above Mars, and Nasa’s Perseverance rover touched down on its surface. Maggie Aderin-Pocock reviews the astonishing footage the rover has already sent back, and talks with its legendary chief designer Adam Seltzer about the challenges of missions to the red planet. \n\nChris Lintott reveals the incredible ‘track-and-trace’ story behind the discovery of the Winchcombe Meteorite, and is given special access to the labs at the Natural History Museum to see the meteorite itself. Chris meets Dr Ashley King, who is co-ordinating UK-wide research into the rocky interloper, which it is hoped might tell us more about the early universe and reveal clues to the origin of life. \n\nPete Lawrence is on hand with a guide to viewing planets in the night sky, and to tell us what to look out for over the course of the rest of the year, and Maggie pays tribute to her childhood hero, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first person in space 60 years ago this month.
Source: BBC 4
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 Day
The British weather is often the enemy of stargazers up and down the country. A forecast of a couple of hours of cloud cover will disappoint even the most determined amateur ast ...
13-07-2022
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
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
Telescope On A Plane!
Telescope on a Plane!\n\nIn this special programme, the Sky at Night takes to the air on board the largest airborne observatory in the world – a specially modified jumbo j ...
09-12-2018
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 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
Exoplanets And Antarctica
In a month when the tally of confirmed exoplanets passed 5,000, it’s astonishing to remember that just 30 years ago, the notion of planets outside our own solar system was ...
14-04-2022
BBC 4
Pick Of The Year
Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Chris Lintott look back at some of the biggest stories featured on the programme in 2020, with the help of special guests who have chosen their favourit ...
20-01-2021
BBC 4