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I enjoyed the July Sky at Night update from Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel


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I watch this every month, and really enjoy it. I often think that there should be more of this on the actual programme instead of talk of satellite manufacturing and similar. In my opinion this is what the program was started for

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1 hour ago, Jiggy 67 said:

I watch this every month, and really enjoy it. I often think that there should be more of this on the actual programme instead of talk of satellite manufacturing and similar. In my opinion this is what the program was started for

What @Jiggy 67 said 👍🏻

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For me the highlight of each program is almost always Pete in his garden doing some actual observing with a telescope or talking about said topic.

His segments are a link/nice reminder of when the show used to feature star parties or amateurs in SPM’s garden in Selsey. They were usually cracking episodes, the last episode that SPM did comes to mind where they had some people along and showed them how to use their scopes.

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On 04/07/2021 at 10:16, Jiggy 67 said:

I often think that there should be more of this on the actual programme instead of talk of satellite manufacturing and similar. In my opinion this is what the program was started for

Agree 100% ... i think these types of programs tend to leave amateur astronomers behind. I really like the part of the show where Pete gets to concentrate on backyard astronomy . It brings the program back to us . I think the techie stuff should be shoehorned into a news section and the majority of the program turned over to actual astronomy ... i would also value some reviews of products . Seems like i'm complaining but i am grateful we at least have this 25 minutes of astro stuff on our screens every month ( p.s ...it isn't enough though ) 

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4 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Agree 100% ... i think these types of programs tend to leave amateur astronomers behind. I really like the part of the show where Pete gets to concentrate on backyard astronomy . It brings the program back to us . I think the techie stuff should be shoehorned into a news section and the majority of the program turned over to actual astronomy ... i would also value some reviews of products . Seems like i'm complaining but i am grateful we at least have this 25 minutes of astro stuff on our screens every month ( p.s ...it isn't enough though ) 

The thing is that the program is not for amateur astronomers anymore. Other than the couple of minutes given to Pete Lawrence it is basically a science program mostly about space exploration, not astronomy. I remember when it was about Patrick Moore sat with a guest discussing a deep sky object including how to find it, what equipment to use and what it would look like…..there is none of that anymore, it is all about space tech and professional large telescopes 

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1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Agree 100% ... i think these types of programs tend to leave amateur astronomers behind. I really like the part of the show where Pete gets to concentrate on backyard astronomy . It brings the program back to us . I think the techie stuff should be shoehorned into a news section and the majority of the program turned over to actual astronomy ... i would also value some reviews of products . Seems like i'm complaining but i am grateful we at least have this 25 minutes of astro stuff on our screens every month ( p.s ...it isn't enough though ) 

Spot on with everyones comments, let's get some more proper amateur astronomy back on the show, Pete and Paul to form a breakaway programme featuring just this, lets lead the rebellion! 

Edited by AstroNebulee
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Agreed. The title says it all really. Surely a program called ‘The Sky at Night’ should be about, well, errr, the sky at night. I would watch it then.

They could have another one called ‘Science and rockets and stuff’ for all the other topics perhaps?

 

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1 hour ago, AstroNebulee said:

Spot on with everyones comments, let's get some more proper amateur astronomy back on the show, Pete and Paul to form a breakaway programme featuring just this, lets lead the rebellion! 

Or maybe a campaign for SIR Pete Lawrence 😊

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Unfortunately despite the agreement here a dedicated amateur astronomy programme would win our hearts, we all also know the real reason the the programme has diversified somewhat over the years.

The BBC need to justify the expense of airing what I've no doubt what would be considered by most licence payers to be a niche programme. Without the diverse topics covered, the viewing figures would go down further and the longest running science programme on TV could die completely.

The rockets and cosmology hook the casual viewer who may not be so interested in going outside into the cold and there's more of them than us.

A rubbish situation I know, but with the competition from streaming services I see no change for the foreseeable.

What I would like to see is Pete and/or Paul fit into their probably busy schedules a Youtube channel dedicated to amateurs. The BAA and RAS would I hope be supportive. A trial run would be interesting. Looking at other channels, there is potential for tens of thousands of international views per month but that would be a medium term goal.

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7 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

Unfortunately despite the agreement here a dedicated amateur astronomy programme would win our hearts, we all also know the real reason the the programme has diversified somewhat over the years.

The BBC need to justify the expense of airing what I've no doubt what would be considered by most licence payers to be a niche programme. Without the diverse topics covered, the viewing figures would go down further and the longest running science programme on TV could die completely.

The rockets and cosmology hook the casual viewer who may not be so interested in going outside into the cold and there's more of them than us.

A rubbish situation I know, but with the competition from streaming services I see no change for the foreseeable.

What I would like to see is Pete and/or Paul fit into their probably busy schedules a Youtube channel dedicated to amateurs. The BAA and RAS would I hope be supportive. A trial run would be interesting. Looking at other channels, there is potential for tens of thousands of international views per month but that would be a medium term goal.

Yep can agree with this and know where your coming from with the BBCand licence fee payers would justify a niche programme dedicated to astronomy, look what happened to stargazing live! but they do put some crap on their channels which are niche like the prime time doggy grooming show? For one instance. I rarely watch the tele now and prefer to watch astronomy /astrophotography content online or read astro magazines or when the weather permits actually do some astrophotography /astronomy 😔

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