The Sky at Night: Answers to Questions from Across the Universe

402 Pages·2012·2.57 MB·English

by  Patrick Moore

Contents
Cover
About the Book
About the Author
Title Page
Foreword
Introduction
Observing
Naked-eye Observing
Telescopes
Astrophotography
Light Pollution
Radio Astronomy
The Amateur Scientist
Past and Future Skies
The Moon
Observations
Orbit and Tides
Eclipses
Formation and Impacts
Mysteries
The Solar System
Orbits and Rotations
The Sun
Planet Earth
Mercury, Venus and Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
The Outer Solar System
Asteroids and Comets
Magnetic Fields
From Beginning to End
Stars and Galaxies
Distances
Knowing Our Place
Binary Stars and Star Clusters
Birth, Life and Death
Supernovae
Galaxies
Cosmology
The Expansion of the Universe
The Big Bang and the Early Universe
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
Origin of the Elements
The End of It All
The Multiverse and Extra Dimensions
Other Worlds
Other Planets
Life Elsewhere
Calling All Life Forms…
Closer to Home
Manned Space Exploration
The Story So Far
The View From Above
The International Space Station
Dangers of Space Travel
The Foreseeable Future
A Moon Base
Living on Mars
Worlds Apart
The Distant Future
Space Missions
Space Navigation
Rockets and Propulsion Systems
Solar System Exploration
The Bizarre and Unexplained
Relativity and the Speed of Light
Gravity
Black Holes
Unexplained Phenomena
Patrick Moore and The Sky at Night
Glossary
References
Picture Credits
Index
Acknowledgements
Copyright
About the Book
Celebrating the 55th anniversary of The Sky at Night, this book collects
questions sent in by viewers and fans, answered by Sir Patrick Moore and Sky at
Night co-presenter Dr Chris North.
With sections on the solar system, cosmology, the bizarre and unexplained, space
missions, the Moon, and more, this is an exciting journey into space for the
novice astronomer and the lifelong stargazer alike.
Discover how scientists work out the gravity of planets, how we measure the
distances to stars and how fast we’re moving through space. Find out what the
‘Great Attractor’ is, what makes planets spherical, and the basic principles of
space navigation. Learn how to start observing the sky, what event inspired
Patrick to take up astronomy, and just how many of his cats are named after
celestial bodies.
From comets to black holes, Orion to eclipses, and Mercury to meteors, The Sky
at Night is the ultimate introduction to the wonders and mysteries of the
Universe.
About the Author Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, is a British
amateur astronomer, researcher, radio commentator and
television presenter, and author of over 70 books on
astronomy. He is a former president of the British
Astronomical Association, and co-founder and former
president of the Society for Popular Astronomy. He is a
specialist on observing the Moon, a Fellow of the Royal
Society, and is one of Britain’s best-loved and most
popular television personalities.
Dr Chris North is an academic researcher at Cardiff University’s School of
Physics and Astronomy. His research primarily involves the design, build and
operation of astronomical telescopes and instruments, though he also has a
strong involvement in public outreach and education. He has worked on the
Planck Satellite and the Herschel Space Observatory, and is one of the team
behind Chromoscope, a popular online astronomy visualisation tool.

Foreword
The Sky at Night is the world’s longest-running programme with the same
presenter. Every month, Sir Patrick Moore continues to extend this unique
record, and I very much doubt he will ever be beaten by anyone else. The reason
for The Sky at Night’s success is certainly Sir Patrick himself and the awesome
subject that he so enthusiastically communicates.
The first programme was aired on 24 April 1957 and helped usher in the
space race. Since then every possible aspect of astronomy, from comets to
quasars, has been covered. Sir Patrick’s good sense of humour helped him report
on some unusual stories too, such as UFOs and little green men. Sir Patrick has
always maintained that if an alien arrived in his garden, he would invite him into
his study, sit him down and offer him a gin and tonic; a possibility I have never
ruled out.
For the past ten years, Sir Patrick has invited the BBC into his home to film
The Sky at Night. Transforming his study into the programme set you see on TV
every month is nerve-wracking. There are piles of precious documents and
manuscripts, not forgetting the multitude of remote controllers and spectacles. It
is organised chaos and, unfortunately, it is my job to see it is all put back in the
‘right’ place.
Working on such a long-running programme, with such a rich heritage, has
meant that milestones are being reached all the time. It seems only yesterday we
celebrated fifty years of The Sky at Night with an edition titled ‘Time Lord’. We
went back in time and visited the set of the first programme, where we met a
young Patrick, played by the impressionist Jon Culshaw. We also went forward
in time to join Brian May, the Queen guitarist and doctor of astronomy, in his
Martian observatory on top of Olympus Mons, while fellow presenter and
leading astronomer Chris Lintott played cricket in a spacesuit. As I remember it,
Chris blamed the thin Martian atmosphere for affecting his spin.
In 2011, The Sky at Night reached another landmark – its 700th programme. I
have two memories from this unique show: Brian May and the Astronomer
Royal Martin Rees passing each other behind the cameras, with the latter
commenting he thought Brian looked just like Sir Isaac Newton; and Patrick
reminiscing with ‘Patrick’ c.1982, aka Jon Culshaw. It was hard to know which
Patrick to look at.
Now we are celebrating the 55th anniversary of The Sky at Night, and my
tenth year of making the programme. It’s been a pleasure, a privilege and an
honour to work with such an exceptional presenter and on such a unique
programme. I have many wonderful memories and look forward to gathering
many more.
Jane Fletcher
Series Producer, The Sky at Night