Stargazing Live - Prof Brian Cox - ABC TV! April 4, 5 and 6!

[Barnacle]

Hi All,

ABC TV presents Stargazing Live!:lol:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/stargazing-live/

Australian first live event broadcast 4,5,6 April

Prof Brian Cox and Presenter Julia Zemiro Take Viewers to Space :eyepop:

Over three consecutive nights, across ABC, ABC2 and ABC iview renowned physicist Professor Brian Cox and much-loved presenter Julia Zemiro are joined by a cast of Australia’s leading scientists and some familiar faces to inspire the nation to ‘look up’ and appreciate the unique wonders of space and our cosmos.

Episode 1 will look at the Milky Way;

Episode 2 focuses on Planets while,

Episode 3 tackles Aliens. :welcome:

Throughout the series, the audience will be invited to join an online experiment to discover a brand new planet, far outside the confines of our solar system.

Stargazing Live 4,5,6 April 2017 8.30pm AEST & ABC,ABC2 & ABC iview, 8pm SA + NT, 8.30pm AWST Stargazing Live: Back To Earth 9.30pm AEST on ABC2 & ABC iview, 9pm SA + NT, 9.30pm AWST

Prof Brian Cox returns to Australia in November for a brand new live stage show ‘Prof Brian Cox Live 2017'.

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Lateral Events Level 11, Challis House, 4 Martin Place Sydney, New South Wales NSW 2000 Australia +61 282724508

Kind regards,

Bill

[Derek Klepp]

Thanks Bill

[Barnacle]

My pleasure!

Professor Brian Cox was at ANU, with Dr Brad Tucker re: hunting Planet 9, see link below:
http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/techandscience/planet-9-breakthrough-astronomers-are-investigating-four-mysterious-objects-on-outskirts-of-our-solar-system/ar-BBzhRqn?li=AAgfYrC&ocid=mailsignout

Looks like this Australian Live event follows the one they had with BBC Stargazing Live in the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8

Enjoy the three nights at ABC, my fellow astronomical Australians!:lol:

Kind regards,

Bill

[dannat]

there is a live event on thurs at Fed square in Melb to go along with this, ASV, RBG will have marquee's up, 7=10pm Dr Karl is doing some live cross

[Barnacle]

Cool, many thanks!

http://fedsquare.com/events/stargazing-live-with-dr-karl-friends

Stargazing Live - with Dr Karl & Friends

Have you ever wondered if aliens exist? If we can holiday on Mars one day? Or just wanted to know more about the moon or Australia’s connection to Apollo 13?

Join Dr Karl, Grace Koh and friends at a fun, free community event in Federation Square on Thursday 6 April from 7-10pm.

Drive a Mars Rover Sphero, be guided by astronomy experts as you view the stars and the moon through high-tech telescopes, journey through the universe using Virtual and Augmented Reality headsets, or devour some delicious snacks from the many food trucks on-hand. :lol:

Or simply be entertained by live music and interesting science discussions.

Then at 8:30pm lay out your picnic rug and enjoy a live broadcast of Stargazing Live with Brian Cox and Julia Zemiro.

To be a part of this unique event, head down to Federation Square in Melbourne on Thursday 6 April from 7pm and enjoy some family entertainment and an outdoor cinema experience under the stars.

This event is presented by the ABC in partnership with Federation Square.

Lift access & wheelchair accessible.:welcome:

Kind regards,

Bill

[that_guy]

A bit dissapointed that they just reused segments from the uk version, for the people thatbwatched the uk one first aha

[gregbradley]

A very good first show. I particularly liked the segment about the Milky Way's supermassive black hole.

Greg.

[Redshift13]

Somewhat disappointed with the first show. Was definitely pitched at the lowest common denominator... ie. primary school kids.
Currently watching the "after show" chat on ABC2 and finding it much more interesting.

[icytailmark]

that was very interesting can't wait for tommorow night planets!!!

Shame they dumbed it down so much i guess they wanted to focus on kids.

[The_bluester]

I reckon the populace of a forum like this is not the target market.

That said, I enjoyed it, and we let our 8 year old stay up to watch and he really enjoyed it, so IMO it is doing it's job.

He was gobsmacked though when I predicted Eta Carina early in the show and proved to be right.

[Andy01]

Yep, I too thought it was great- and my kids paid attention/saw most of it too.
Supposedly I have an image being featured at some point so apart from enlightened self interest, I thought they did a great job to promote Astronomy :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

Well....there is Eta Carina...then everything else. Very happy that David Malin waxed lyrical about it during the after show chat on ABC 2. :D

[beren]

Not bad, the after show was enjoyable :thumbsup: sorry can't help it
more Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith :)

[BeanerSA]

Did we really need another thread?!

[JA]

Very Enjoyable.:thumbsup:

Best
JA

[Malcolm]

I lol'd at Julia sucking on the stubby during the after show when everyone else used a glass.

[AstralTraveller]

I thought everyone sitting there with a stout (??) looked like product placement, especially when Brian had to pose with his drink near the end. Is that possible from the BBC? It also could create the impression that alcohol and observing go well together, something I've never found to be the case.

What did make me laugh was the poor sod pretending to observe through the short tube refractor in the outside shots. I reckon he was told to 'put the scope here, point it that way and pretend to look at something'. So he battled on in the howling gale trying to look absorbed in his hobby.

The other slight chuckle I had was when they were showing some of the submitted images. They showed a nice nightscape and David Malin commented that it was pretty easy to take such a shot with fairly inexpensive off-the-shelf equipment. Shortly after they showed a Peter Ward image of eta Carina. David didn't comment on the experience or budget behind that image! [Let's not scare the horses.]

It was nice to see Steve Lee again, I haven't seen him in decades and didn't know he was still at the AAT. He is also a Wollongong boy and I remember him getting a job as a junior assistant there in the mid-70s.

I agree that the show is pitched well below 'our' level but I'm so interested to see how astronomy is promoted to 'the masses' that I will watch the next two nights. After all, the chance of clear skies is approaching zero and at the moment my scope would sink into the backyard anyway.

[dannat]

will be at fed square tonight , telescope in hand at the rbg tent - -asv will have several scopes also

[Peter Ward]

There are a number of IIS members that have 'scopes etc. that make my gear look a little pedestrian.....begging the queston: your point is?

All things aside....Bravo Auntie ABC!! ...I am totally over the cooking/weight/date drivel that the commercials have been shoveling up.

Sure it's not Sagan's Cosmos, but it is a breath of fresh air.

[Kunama]

Setting up the 18" (along with another dozen scopes) at Mount Stromlo Observatory this evening to provide some observing opportunities to those lucky people who managed to score tickets to the presentations/slide shows etc....

CFN has reasonable clear forecast.... :thumbsup:

[LewisM]

+1. Our TV is off 90% of the day. The rest of the time it is on ABC and SBS. Can't remember the last time it was on a commercial station.

I just simply cannot understand the whining and bloated cheeks here on IIS about it - it was very rapidly apparent the depth of the program. Don't like it, do something else.

[LewisM]

Excellent Matt. Just hold that ladder!

Might image for the first time in over a year tonight

[AstralTraveller]

No big point. David Malin was doing the right thing, encouraging people to get involved by pointing out how easy and cheap it is to take nice nightscapes. It wasn't the time to point out that taking some of the best images going around will take decades of experience and $10,000s of gear. I just chuckled because I know the difference.

There was a similar situation last night when Kostas (?? - the hairy gardener) was introduced to a $600 8" dobs. That's the sort of outlay that beginners will feel is reasonable and affordable. It would have been inappropriate to show off a nice Tak/RCOS/Astrophysics rig and create the impression that that is what it takes to get into astronomy.

Anyway, we agree on 'Bravo to the ABC'. Let's hope that astro clubs see an upturn in interest and sales of telescopes increase.

[Peter Ward]

Inappropriate? I disagree. Why not showcase a Lamborghini or Ferrari rather than suggest if you learn how to drive, then a Kia is as good as it gets.

[Andy01]

I'm here at Federation Square are in Melbs with my family & about 10,000 other folks. Great atmosphere, lots of entertainment for the kids, food trucks, the ASV guys with their big dobs & it's cool listening to Dr. Karl answeringthe kids questions :)
We're all waiting to see Brian Cox on the big screen here!
EDIT: Woohoo - My Lobster nebula (http://www.astrobin.com/169902/G/?nc=user) Pic made it on to the show :)

[Kunama]

About 1800 'ticket' holders attended at Mount Stromlo Observatory last night.
We had about 15 telescopes set up on the usual suspects... (Moon, Jupiter, NGC5139, NGC2070, NGC4755, NGC104, M42, NGC3372 etc)

My 'clicker' count was 429 at the 18" Dob.... There are only so many ways and times you can discuss Omega Cent......

[Barnacle]

Hi All,

Such wonderful event to host in Melbourne city on Thursday night for Star Gazing Live by, eg, Dr Karl and Grace Koh of the ABC, Astronomical Society of Vic with its many telescopes for the public to view the Moon, CAASTRO - Arc Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics, Swinburne University and other science and space marquees for the children.:welcome:

This is what makes Melbourne a most heartwarming and livable city for the family!:thumbsup:

Some photos I took of the wonderful and memorable night. Enjoy!:lol:

Kind regards,

Bill

[Malcolm]

Does anyone know the name of the star that was found to have four planets in close orbit. I do know that it is in Aquarius.

[Barnacle]

Hi Malcolm,

"Four planets orbiting the star EE-1 located 600 light-years away in Aquarius."

Quote above, mate.:hi:

See link below for more details about star EE-1, it has a mass of 10% less than our sun:
http://www.iflscience.com/space/stargazing-live-leads-to-discovery-of-multi-planet-system/

Kind regards,

Bill

[Malcolm]

Thanks Bill, I was wondering whether it was possible to view it through a telescope, knowing its magnitude would be good. However I cannot find it in Stellarium or other apps.

[Camelopardalis]

Great pics Bill :thumbsup: so gutted I didn't make it to Fed square but also great to see so many IISers have their pics featured on the show :thumbsup:

[Barnacle]

Hi Malcolm and Dunk,

Thanks!

Mal, keep googling, we may nail this star's magnitude as more news filters thru.

As an example, Kepler 22 star, with planet Keppler 22-b, is a yellow dwarf star with magnitude 11.5, and this star is also 600 light years away like star EE-1!

Dunk, sorry you couldn't be with us. It was a truly wonderful experience to see families come together at Fed square for such a family oriented astronomical event, that astronomy and space can spread so much further than us who share a passion of the night sky here and the amateurs with their space shots up the big screen featured on the show.

We really need to step back and appreciate this star gazing TV event from this perspective and angle to appreciate what Brian Cox is hoping to achieve here. And Fed Square event in Melbourne making this possible as a live event (and not a TV box) with Dr Karl and Grace Koh of the ABC, scientists, astrophysicists at CAASTRO and others with their marquees aimed for the children, all their efforts on Thursdays nights should be applauded for such a free fantastic event for the family.

Everyone of us there contributed to make it possible. The weather in Melbourne finally made it perfect that night, with the gibbous Moon up in the Melbourne CBD for the telescopes to convey her beauty to the children.

I've uploaded a small sample of the photos before, will upload more as I go, here are some more for the memories.

Kind regards,

Bill

[Barnacle]

More photos from Fed Square!

Today we show our children planets around other stars;

Tomorrow they may take us there in our lifetime.

Federation Square, Melbourne 6 April 2017

[tonybarry]

The Penrith Observatory has a twice-a-month Family Viewing Night, the most recent one being Saturday evening (last night). WSAAG support the effort with members bringing their own telescopes and showing visitors to the observatory more objects than what the regular staff could manage.

The visitors last night were quite aware of the Stargazing Live program - much more than I would have expected - and many discussed items of interest with WSAAG members and observatory staff.

My thinking is that - based on this (small, probably biased) sample), the Stargazing Live project was a good success, even if the metric is simply number of persons watching. I think it also raised the profile of astronomy and (possibly more importantly) gave the regular man-in-the-street some inkling that Real Science is not impossible for real people, especially where astronomy is concerned. There are projects for (almost) everyone.

Regards,
Tony Barry
WSAAG

[Visionary]

Dr Harvey Smith is brilliant in front of the camera. Dare I say, for the second series (fingers cross) the ABC can save on Dr Cox's airfare and employ more of Dr Harvey Smith's time.

David

[sil]

...And scrap Julia. As a long time watcher I was disappointed that the ABC had to switch to the local people when they could have used the Brits with their established interactions, talk about lack of multiculturalism. Having Aussies on the show and the pre-recorded pieces was great but like with Top Gear Australia we took a good formula and ruined it with people who have no clue, at least Dara has a science degree and a long time interest so his jokes work better than Julias condescending HHMMmms. She's just as poor at IT events I've attended.