The Sky at Night

British astronaut Piers Sellers on orbiting the Earth and the future of the manned space programme; NASA's upcoming Hubble rescue mission.

Celebrating the success of Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity; NASA's Phoenix mission; Lucie Green visits the ExoMars rover in Aberystwyth.

Chris shows us how to see Saturn with a small telescope, while Patrick finds out the latest from the Cassini mission currently orbiting the planet.

Celebrating 50 years of The Sky at Night, Patrick 'travelled' back to the show's first ever recording in 1957. The episode then jumped forward to 2057 where the 'virtual' Patrick talked to Dr Chris Lintott and Dr Brian May on Mars. Jon Culshaw's turn as a younger Patrick was uncanny as he recreated Patrick's first words on The Sky at Night.

The Sky at Night 50th birthday party. Patrick reflects on how astronomy has changed over the last half century, with amusing clips from the archives.

Patrick learns more about the exciting discovery of a planet that seems similar to Earth.

Patrick looks at the summer constellation Scorpius, and the black hole lurking at the centre of the Galaxy.

A look at Robonet, the robotic network of telescopes spanning the globe, able to react to cosmic phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts at any time.

Patrick uses magic to explain the mysteries of the Universe.

A look back at the completion of the world's largest steerable radio telescope in 1957, just in time to pick up the signal from Sputnik.

Patrick anticipates the cataclysmic day, in two billion years, when our Milky Way will collide with Andromeda, and the role dark matter will play.

In his garden, Patrick Moore is joined by Dr Brian May and Jon Culshaw to watch the cosmic firework display known as the Perseid meteor shower.

Dr Chris Lintott finds out how British technology is leading the way in satellite science, while Sir Patrick Moore investigates the threat from space debris that astronauts face in space.

On 14th December 1972, Captain Eugene Cernan left the Moon to return to Earth. He had no idea that, 25 years later, he would still be the last man to have left his footprints on the lunar surface. Dr Chris Lintott travels to the Johnson Space Centre to talk to the Commander of Apollo 17 about his memories of being on the Moon. Sir Patrick Moore looks at lunar samples brought back by the astronauts and talks to NASA scientists about what they discovered.