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... 'Oumuamua. Its discovery set off a hurricane of press speculation and a major scientific investigation.\n\nTo investigate this spectacular astronomical detective story, The Sky at Night goes to Queen's University in Belfast, which has become the centre of scientific research on this cosmic visitor. When they first spotted it, all scientists knew was that it was small, it was travelling fast, and it came from outside our solar system.\n\nIts discovery provoked a host of questions. What did it look like? How had it formed? What was it made of? Where had it come from? To answer these questions, the team pieces together all the clues that scientists have extracted from the small amounts of data collected as 'Oumuamua flashed through the solar system.\n\nThis forensic analysis - including exclusive new revelations - means we can now piece together the most comprehensive picture yet of this extraordinary object.
Source: 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
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
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
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
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