The Sky at Night

Patrick Moore looks forward to a year of spectacular astronomical events: the launching of the Sky-lab earth-orbiting laboratory in May; the longest eclipse of the century in June; the first dual-planet probe to Venus and Mercury in October; and the Copernicus quincentenary celebrations.

From his Selsey observatory, Patrick Moore illustrates what amateur astronomers can achieve, and shows the planet Saturn.

Patrick Moore talks about Sirius the Dog-Star, the brightest star in the sky and one of the nearest to us, and about its white dwarf companion Sirius B. (Patrick Moore's new opera Perseus discussed in Scan: Thurs 8.45 pm R4)

The longest solar eclipse of the century, lasting over seven minutes, will take place in Africa on 30 June. Patrick Moore talks about some of the exciting experiments which will be carried out by solar observers who will be in - or above - the Sahara during the eclipse.

Patrick Moore discusses with Gordon Taylor and Dr David Allen new ways of measuring objects in our solar system.

Ancient astronomers described Sirius the Dog-Star as red: but what colour is it today? A few weeks ago, Patrick Moore asked viewers to tell him what colour they see Sirius, and now he analyses the thousands of reports he received, and explains the significance of the colours of stars.

British observers back from the longest solar eclipse of the century tell Patrick Moore about the results of their experiments. These astronomers went to see totality from widely different viewpoints - Dr John Beckman from Concorde, Dr R. J. Speer from a rocket site in West Africa, Barrie Jones from the shore of Lake Rudolf, and observers from ships at sea and the Sahara desert.

Until the invention of modern techniques like radar and satellite-guidance, a ship at sea could only find her position by sun and stars. On board ship, Patrick Moore and Cmdr Henry Hatfield, RN, discuss the navigational origins of astronomy, and show how seamen use the sun.

Venus has always been a mysterious planet - shrouded in its dense, fiercely hot atmosphere, in which life as we know it could never exist. Astronomers have just announced a startling discovery: using radar and the latest computer techniques, they have detected vast, shallow craters on the surface of Venus. Patrick Moore shows these exciting pictures and explains their significance.

How big do you see the full moon? Near the horizon, it appears larger than when it is high in the sky - but this is not due to magnification by the earth's atmosphere. Patrick Moore discusses this with Professor Richard Gregory

Patrick Moore visits the volcanic crater at Mount Teide in Tenerife, and discusses with Dr Ron Maddison the characteristics of Martian volcanoes, compared with those on the earth and moon.

On the morning of 10 November the planet Mercury will pass in transit across the face of the Sun. Patrick Moore tells observers what they can expect to see, and he looks forward to the launching in 1974 of an American spacecraft which will fly past Mercury and send back the first close-up pictures.

This month for the first time a space probe passes close to one of the giants of the solar system - the planet Jupiter. The American craft Pioneer 10 has penetrated further into the solar system than any probe has ever done before. Patrick Moore brings you the latest news of the mission and discusses the implications of the results with Dr Garry Hunt , a planetary meteorologist.