The Sky at Night S22E02 · The Nearest Galaxies

Overview

What is the most remote object ever visible with the naked eye? The answer is: the Great Spiral in Andromeda, which is a member of our Local Group of galaxies, but is still very remote - its light takes over two million years to reach us. The Local Group is now known to contain over 25 members, some of which are huge systems while others are dwarf galaxies. Patrick Moore talks about the Local Group to Heather Couper , lecturer at the Caird Planetarium, Greenwich.

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Episodes

1. 1 1. Exploring the Night Sky with Binoculars1978-01-11Good astronomical telescopes are very expensive today, but there are many objects in the night sky which can be viewed with binoculars. For example, during winter evenings the cons
2. 2 2. The Nearest Galaxies1978-02-08What is the most remote object ever visible with the naked eye? The answer is: the Great Spiral in Andromeda, which is a member of our Local Group of galaxies, but is still very re
3. 3 3. The New Mars1978-03-08The Viking space-probes have been operating on Mars for almost one Martian year (nearly two Earth years). We do not yet know whether life in any form exists there but many scientif
4. 4 4. Suns, Space-Ships and Bug-Eyed Monsters1978-03-27Ever since the days of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, science fiction and space exploration have been closely linked, and over the last 100 years science fiction has often become sci
5. 5 5. The Asteroids1978-04-04The asteroids or minor planets are among the most interesting of the junior members in the Solar System. Only one - Vesta - is ever visible without a telescope, but thousands are n
6. 6 6. Birth of a Star1978-05-17How is a star born? We believe that with our telescopes we can see where fresh stars are being created. In this programme Patrick Moore talks about stellar birth, how a star develo
7. 7 7. Astronomers' View of the Earth1978-06-08Far from being exceptional, our earth is an ordinary planet moving around an ordinary star. From space it looks like a coloured globe as men have seen it from the surface of the mo
8. 8 8. Gamma Ray Astronomy1978-06-28Gamma ray astronomy is a new science; as yet we do not know as much as we would like about these strange, high penetration rays which come from deep space. Patrick Moore discusses
9. 9 9. The Edge of the Solar System1978-06-26The outer planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, are now visible in the evening sky. Do these worlds mark the real edge of the Solar System? There have been suggestions that an undisc
10. 10 10. Question and Answer1978-08-23What effect does the moon have on the tides? How do I recognise the constellations? What is a shooting star? Is there life on other worlds? If I want to take up astronomy, how shou
11. 11 11. Does Anything Ever Happen on the Moon?1978-09-14The moon has long been regarded as a dead world; but is this completely true? Astronomers have described faint coloured patches and local ' fogs', which are sometimes thought to be
12. 12 12. Where Did Life Begin?1978-10-11According to a new and revolutionary idea life did not originate on Earth but was brought here as organisms from outer space. Patrick Moore talks to Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor C
13. 13 13. Exploded Star1978-11-15Six thousand light-years away in space lies the Crab Nebula, a patch of spreading gas which is all that is left of a star which was seen to explode in 1054. The most famous of all
14. 14 14. The Alignment of the Planets1978-12-12The two giant planets Jupiter and - Saturn are now visible in the late evening sky. Rocket probes are on their way to both, as the alignment of the outer planets between now and th