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Are the Beeb kicking themselves??

SpaceMonkey777

By SpaceMonkey777
in The Astro Lounge

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

Posted
Posted

sorry to see the weather may ruin it for tonight, thought we were lucky to get any clear nights with it looming as I felt the great british weather would take care of most of the events being organised nationwide, am happy that 2 of the 3 nights have been cloud free. :D

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4lefts

4lefts

Posted
Posted

I'm enjoying it more than last year. It's a shame it's only once a year, and that it's not dark enough in the summer during primetime. I think Brian Cox seems a bit more at ease this year, and the flow seems a bit better. Liz wotsit also seems a bit more "into" it - last year she seemed a bit like she wasn't bothered, even though, from watching this time, I suspect she is (don't know anything about her though).

I think it's hard for the bbc. They can't count on the whether for something like this, so what are the supposed to do? I liked the science stuff they did last night. I think we've done well having two clear nights (not in Devon mind, Monday was good but last night, not so much, and there's nothing doing tonight).

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Stephen

Stephen

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The issue was that last year Liz was up a mountain and insensible with lack of oxygen. Even Cox commented on it.

Indeed, well worth remembering.

I don't think the BBC will be kicking themselves, it's not like the dates were set 6 months ago or anything :D

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pete_l

pete_l

Posted
Posted
I imagine they wish they'd done stargazing live the 3 nights previous!

Not sure about anywhere else, but baring a miracle, no "live" stargazing on the south coast!

I don't think they ever intended to. Most BBC "science" programmes only ever talk about science - they almost never actually do any. (Sadly, that was the best thing about Tomorrow's World - but I guess the Beeb are too worried about failures or embarrasing themselves).

So with this thing about turning off the lights in Dulverton. That only made any sense if the sky was clear. Given that people had umbrellas up it seems there was no chance of comparing a light-polluted sky with a dark one. Yet they went ahead and did it anyway - presumably the script said "Dulverton: X minutes to switch off the lights" and they went ahead regardless. Just as they spent a lot of time on Monday and Tuesday with filmed material and interviews and wasted the only 2 clear nights they've had in BOTH the series (this year and last).

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

I honestly dont think that the live stargazing outside on the show should really play a big part in the show. The show is meant to be informative/educational (mainly to beginners). But we can all learn something. I know i understand blackholes more today then i did yesterday.

How long can/should one spend on a tv show outside asking people what they can see/have seen?

A segment on maybe aligning an EQ mount etc would be very useful. Also a segment on the various types of scopes and the size of them would be a great help to people who are just deciding which scope to buy.

There is way too much to fit in over 3 hrs. The little snippets of the outside stargazers.............i think the show can do without. Get back into the studio and discuss the types of scopes and sizes etc that beginners want to know about before buying.

So really the weather has nothing to do with the show. It's fine to show live views of planets etc during a live broadcast (you do need clear skies for this) but it would be better if they did it as a kind of guide of what to expect to see through different type/size scopes.

Loving the show this year. Much better then last years,IMHO.

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nicnac

nicnac

Posted
Posted

i am enjoying it, i am also enjoying the fact people at work are asking me things on the astro front because of the show (not that i claim i am an expert)

cant wait for next years, just hope they decide to stick to northern hemisphere targets, you know, the stuff we all can get to see without a plane ticket

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4lefts

4lefts

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The issue was that last year Liz was up a mountain and insensible with lack of oxygen. Even Cox commented on it.

fair enough. she's easier on the eye than jonathan ross, too.

I honestly dont think that the live stargazing outside on the show should really play a big part in the show.

I agree. There's not that much mileage for me in watching some bloke look through an ep and go "wow, oh yeah, that's great, that is, i can see all the gas and stars!"

I think, yeah, more could have been said about the actual logistics of astronomy. choosing scopes (i know they had a bit on this), eps, binoculars, the importance of mounting (needing a tripod for 15x70s), finding out what's good to look at (an introduction to what the messier catalogue is, and how to find the objects), maps etc, and most important of all CLUBS - telling people how important they are, and how they can find them, making people aware that there are a lot of REALLY GOOD clubs around.

did anyone else think they could have made better mention of the kepler space telescope, which provided the data for the exoplanet discovery in the first place?

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Tiddles

Tiddles

Posted
Posted
Monday was great at the NLO and last night was not bad here in Exeter. At least I managed to get some imaging done! I must be hard for the Beeb as they have to forward plan but all in all it's a fantastic program and I wish there were more like it!

+1, I had a great evening at the NLO, just such a shame its so far from home. I wish it was my local observatory as the welcome offered to a relative noob was fantastic.

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pete_l

pete_l

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I agree. There's not that much mileage for me in watching some bloke look through an ep and go "wow, oh yeah, that's great, that is, i can see all the gas and stars!"
But they do have the ability to attach a camera and let everyone else see, too. It can be inclusive if done properly. Show the object in real-time as it appears through the eyepiece, show what it looks like if photographed/processed and most importantly show whereabouts it is in the sky and how to find it - so that folks at home can follow along, too. All we got this year was akin to having a fireworks display on the radio: oooh's and aaaah's but nothing else. I think there was probably less actual stargazing this year than there was last year.
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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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For the 2nd year running all they said about AP was simply attach a camera to your scope and you can get images like this.

That simply is NOT true.

How many people out there right now are thinking "I'll attach my camera to the new scope i will buy,press the shutter button and get instant images such as ther ones shown"

??????????

Very misleading.

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

Posted
Posted

At the NLO we projected live images onto the side of the main building. We had lots of scopes doing visuals and I was demonstrating imaging M42. It was very enjoyable answering visitors questions and I think everyone had a great time. The planetarium was popular and the comments from people when they saw Jupiter in a large scope for the first time were great. Glad we were able to answer queries such as "why do stars twinkle and planets don't" and "How far away is XXX".

BTW for anyone interested we are holding an Introduction to Astronomy course at the NLO on 28th Jan 2012 Astronomy Course

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