BBC Stargazing Live – a Stellar Performance Boosts the Nation’s Love of Space.

From the 8-10^th of January, the BBC’s third series of Stargazing Live aired from Jodrell Bank Observatory, where the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world resides. Presented by Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain, these three episodes covered a wide range of topics including Mars, light and time, and the finale covered meteors, comets and asteroids. The programme was as popular as ever, enticing 3.8 million viewers and combined activities which could be done at home with live demonstrations and links with other observatories. All of the information was presented in a dynamic and engaging manner suitable for a family audience, with extensive discussions with experts in astrophysics and planetary sciences for the more keen viewers.

In conjunction with these programmes a wide selection of events have been put on nationwide, including talks, star parties and stargazing events enabling beginners, amateurs and professionals to get together and learn about astronomy. The University of Oxford’s Physics Department put on an all-day event, where visitors could partake in a number of activities including the observation of Jupiter and its moons through personal telescopes, and interactive demonstrations on how to make a comet. Other activities included a photo competition, a fantastic range of posters from the Physics and Earth Science Departments and the chance to manipulate the Philip Wetton Telescope to zoom in on far away galaxies. There was also a series of talks and games throughout the day

It was uplifting to see the academics engaging so enthusiastically with the public and directly communicating the most recent research from their field, and this popular event drew in over 1000 attendees.

Sadly, the astronomy community has recently lost the well-loved Sir Patrick Moore, who was one of the first public ambassadors for astronomy and who has inspired several generations through his many books and popular television show ‘The Sky at Night’. However, space fans should not fear that astronomy will be lost to oblivion, due to the more recent ‘Brian Cox effect’. Recently telescope sales have soared and there has been an increased uptake of mathematics and physics A-levels and university courses.

BBC learning have produced a fantastic website full of space-related information, activities, and interviews with astronauts and rocket scientists. They have even produced a book on stargazing in conjunction with the Open University, available to order for free on the website.

For someone like me who has always loved space, programmes and events like these are refreshing and confirm what I have always known – that science is cool and fun, and for once I (almost) feel like a trendsetter. Now if people were only more interested in the Earth’s interior…