Stargazing Live Australia

[Paz]

I watched a bit if the first one and wasn't all that impressed and didn't watch the others. I liked the Australian astronomer who they interviewed but they could have made a lot more of that.

[DaveS]

I guess this shows you can't please all the people all the time.

Myself I found it a mixed bag. I thought Liz was out of place though I like her as a presenter and the mythology had as much relevance as that other "ology" that we don't talk about. I wish they'd given more time to the girls doing remote imaging.

Pity they didn't have a "what's up now" piece for us up here.

[LightBucket]

1 hour ago, Alien 13 said:

I get the feeling I watched a completely different program from many others, to me the format is perfect and enjoyable, thank god we have moved away from the old school programs like the early Sky at Night which was worse than watching paint dry.

Alan

Yes you must have watched a re run of the first series.....if you honestly found it interesting and educational to the point of teaching you stuff about astronomy and Astrophotography then good on you, but I think you maybe a minoroity this year...

It was very poor, and I have watched every episode they have ever made, the first two series were very good, as it was all for the amateur astronomer, but not anymore, I mean cmon showing how coral reproduces, and looking for some kind of fossils in red dirt while being eaten alive by flies, showing how some guy pilots big ships in a narrow estuary with dodgy GPS.....it was a joke, and they were in Oz with beautiful clear skies for two nights and how much of that Sky did they actually show, well blink and you would have missed it.....

[saac]

2 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

I get the feeling I watched a completely different program from many others, to me the format is perfect and enjoyable, thank god we have moved away from the old school programs like the early Sky at Night which was worse than watching paint dry.

Alan

I'm with you on this Alan, I thought all 3 programmes were an absolute delight, a wee gem to lighten the spirit as we shrug off the last of the winter days. I've downloaded all three and they are already being used in class - the section on black holes was really pertinent. I certainly was educated, informed and entertained - BBC's remit well satisfied.  I think they did well in changing the format, good to shake things up otherwise there is a danger of stagnation. That said, the after show was missed, maybe budget or scheduling constraints precluded it. I'd like to see them continue with this theme for next year say hosting it in from the observatory  sites in Chile or maybe even from LIGO in California. I'm available to carry bags.  

Jim

[ShrewView]

4 hours ago, Tomjo59 said:

Bit of a mixed bag this year. Not a bad idea going to Oz, to give people an idea about the southern sky (and to avoid the British weather - pity about cyclone Debbie though!)

I didn't mind too much them including a bit about UFOs, as lots of people seem to be interested, but it should have been rigorously critical, and it wasn't.

Maybe it's a personal thing, but I can't help finding Liz Bonnin irritating. It is very clear she hasn't any real understanding of the material she is presenting to camera.

It was a bit too mixed really. They flitted about a bit too much and as others have said too much of that was off topic, like the corals, the shipping and the giant hopping mice. I would have liked to see more of the southern sky treasures and perhaps comparisons with northern sky objects. Having said that I think the team seem pretty good in general and i'd rather see and hear Liz Bonnin than Kate Humble, so as long as she is not drafted in for next year I will give them another watch. 

[Stub Mandrel]

David Attenborough's Life on Gloucestershire

Steven Hawking's A Brief History of Tea Time

Professor Bronowski's Ascent of Man on the Clapham Omnibus

[Peter Drew]

Not my C of T, Im  too old for the modern fragmented style of presentation. I prefer a more in depth treatment of single subjects which I can either enjoy if of personal interest or ignore if not. Not a criticism, just not for me. 

[mapstar]

Astronomy of any sorts on TV is good for the hobby.

I did watch all three and can agree with a lot here that the content was scatter brained and who the hell took those photo's what our telescopes captured? Was it Dara on his first outing? Blurred and out of focus it really didn't show astro photography in good light especially when it had one of the pioneers on there David Malin.  The images later on were professional and what the others should've been more like.

Would've been nice to see some of our fellow Amateur Australian astronomers out in the field especially if they had some nice big truss dobs as that is what those clear skies are for .

It could've been a lot more grass roots with Geoff giving some good details and obviously does know his skies. Should've been more of him and less Dara and Cox drivelling on. 

 

[Physopto]

4 hours ago, mapstar said:

Astronomy of any sorts on TV is good for the hobby.

I did watch all three and can agree with a lot here that the content was scatter brained and who the hell took those photo's what our telescopes captured? Was it Dara on his first outing? Blurred and out of focus it really didn't show astro photography in good light especially when it had one of the pioneers on there David Malin.  The images later on were professional and what the others should've been more like.

Would've been nice to see some of our fellow Amateur Australian astronomers out in the field especially if they had some nice big truss dobs as that is what those clear skies are for .

It could've been a lot more grass roots with Geoff giving some good details and obviously does know his skies. Should've been more of him and less Dara and Cox drivelling on. 

 

Did not manage to catch it all, but some bits were OK. Too much waffle and not enough actual hands on astro information. It was better than I was expecting the bits I did catch but not worth trying to especially get to watch. Shame it seems now to be a program promoting Brian Cox and Dara Ó Briain. The Australian skies looked beautiful but some amature input would have been better than just looking at professional setups.

Derek

 

[LeoLion]

Oz sees ABC showing Stargazing Live in early April here http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/stargazing-live/ with Brian Cox . Not quite the same show and with 1/2 hr discussions too. Picked the info up on Ice in Space. Sadly I have not found a way of viewing it in in the UK over the net. Rumour has it that some UK resident Aussies have access to their homeland TV over the net here as a paid for service. Perhaps a view could be obtained for a friendly supper and a few tinnies  ?

[Mognet]

I thought it was a bit disappointing. Not that much on the sky even when it was clear. Would like to see more of Greg (Space Gandalf) in the future as he has knows his stuff, clearly enjoys talking about it, and has a calm informative manner. The English presenters were rather overenthusiastic and shouty in comparison

[LukeSkywatcher]

It really was no different to any other year. Some good stuff,some bad stuff. I really enjoyed the 1st episode. I enjoyed the 2nd episode until they started talking about ships and plate tectonics. I didnt watch the 3rd episode.

I love plate tectonics and all stuff geological, but there is a time and a place. I'm not gonna start on about the presenters and how qualified they are in their own right. 

I also missed the after show segment when they discuss stuff and take viewers questions etc. That was/is always fun.

*shakes fist @ cyclone Debbie*

[Tim]

On 31/03/2017 at 20:01, mikeDnight said:

I didn't watch any of it! 

Old re-runs of Sky at Night, before the useless academics and clowns took over, and the BBC may get my attention! Real amateurs talking real amateur astronomy is whats sorely needed, but the BBC dimwhits cant see it!

Mike 

I forgot to watch any of it too, but got the last 3 minutes of the last show.

PS, There's no "h" in dimwit

 

[mikeDnight]

58 minutes ago, Tim said:

I forgot to watch any of it too, but got the last 3 minutes of the last show.

PS, There's no "h" in dimwit

 

I'm going to blame the spell check thingy! 

[Stub Mandrel]

Cripes, they ought to get some of the SGL Video astronomers down there.

[LukeSkywatcher]

28 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

I'm going to blame the spell check thingy! 

I blame pedantism.

[Stub Mandrel]

I know I mentioned this before but how did they get pictures of cassiopeiea....

[LukeSkywatcher]

10 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I know I mentioned this before but how did they get pictures of cassiopeiea....

They didnt. Similar.............but not Cassiie.

[DeepSkyBagger]

17 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I blame pedantism.

I think you mean 'pedantry'. <Snort!> 

[Stub Mandrel]

4 minutes ago, DeepSkyBagger said:

I think you mean 'pedantry'. <Snort!>

Noun: Tree used to hang pedants.

[Stub Mandrel]

Email today:

 

Hi there,

 

We've just launched a brand new project - Exoplanet Explorers

 

We need your help to search through data from the Kepler space telescope to find planets orbiting distant star. We're running this project in collaboration with the ABC Stargazing Live television show in Australia, and researchers at UC Santa Cruz in California. Our aim is to discover at least one planet in the next 48 hours, so we really need your help right now!

 

Join the hunt at www.exoplanetexplorers.org

 

Cheers,

 

Grant & the Zooniverse Team