The Sky at Night - 2023 (2023)

The Sky at Night team investigate the latest science used in the hunt for extraterrestrial life, including a major mission to Jupiter's icy moons.

The Sky at Night team explores the threat of an asteroid impact on earth and meets the space scientists who are developing methods of planetary defence that sound like the stuff of science fiction.

The Sky at Night team investigates the incredible science and engineering helping the UK to blast into space. We are now one of the biggest satellite building nations in the world, and the race is on to be the first company to successfully launch a rocket into orbit from British soil.

For July 2023, the team investigate the controversial world of alien communication. The search for life on other planets is one of the most fascinating subjects in science. But what is less reported is the work being done around the world to determine what happens next.

For August 2023, The Sky at Night team investigate the science of black holes and discover the incredible techniques being used to uncover their secrets, and even help us answer bigger questions about our universe. Chris meets Dr Becky Smethurst at the University of Oxford to learn how a black hole forms from the death of a star. He also investigates whether black holes deserve their menacing portrayal in popular culture. He describes what would happen if we got too close to the event horizon and how black holes might actually play a role in lighting up the universe. Maggie explores how scientists are trying to understand more about black holes by meeting Dr Tessa Baker, who works on LIGO. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory is one of the world’s largest physics experiments and is not your usual type of observatory; instead of looking - it listens. The next observation run has just started, and Maggie learns what they are hoping to find.

The Very Large Telescope has been responsible for some of the greatest astronomical breakthroughs. For September 2023, the team travels to the heart of the Atacama to explore one of the most advanced observatories in the world, a site at the forefront of astronomy.

A special Question Time edition of the programme, recorded at the University of Exeter as part of the British Science Association’s Science Festival.

In a special episode to mark the end of another season, The Sky at Night teams up with Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage to talk all things amateur astronomy.