Catch up TV
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... '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
Most recent episodes of The Sky at Night
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
The Sky At Night
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
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
Most popular episodes of The Sky at Night
The Sky At Night
Wonders Of The Night Sky
The Sky at Night celebrates one of the most profound, moving and enjoyable activities there is - the ancient art of looking up, studying and marvelling at the night sky. The pro ...
10-12-2017
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Is Cosmology In Crisis?
Ever since we discovered that distant galaxies are racing away from us, there has been a heated debate over just how fast the Universe is expanding.\n\nAt the beginning of the 2 ...
14-02-2019
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Mars: Red And Dead?
Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Chris Lintott reveal the latest results from Nasa's Curiosity and Esa's ExoMars TGO missions that are attempting to find signs of life on Mars. Maggie v ...
12-04-2018
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
The Brightest Star
The team explore stargazing in the daytime, show how seasons change on other planets across the solar system and examine what makes the sun special.
13-07-2014
BBC 4
The Sky At Night
Beyond Pluto
On 1 January 2019, Nasa's New Horizons probe notched up another historic first: the first ever Kuiper belt fly-by. Its target was 2014 MU69, a chunk of ice and rock about four b ...
17-01-2019
BBC 4
