Successful BBC and ABC Stargazing Live TV events at Siding Spring Observatory

Article originally written by Ángel R. López-Sánchez for the “AAO Observer” 132, August 2017. Credits of all the photos: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

Colorful lights in dome of our Anglo-Australian Telescope in preparation for the Stargazing Live TV shows.

During two weeks in late March and early April 2017, famous physicist and TV presenter Professor Brian Cox co-hosted two “Stargazing TV” shows emitted live from Siding Spring Observatory in the BBC and in the ABC. The stage of these major TV events was our Anglo-Australian Telescope, (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory, on the edge of the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran, NSW.

BBC Stargazing Live shows at Siding Spring Observatory were emitted on the early morning of Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th and Friday 31st March 2017 (evenings of the previous days in the UK). BBC Stargazing Live TV shows were hosted by Professor Brian Cox and TV presenter and comedian Dara Ó Briain, with the participation of biologist and BBC presenter Liz Bonnin and Broome-based amateur astronomer Greg Quicke (who was very popular in social media, receiving the nickname of #SpaceGandalf).

During BBC Stargazing Live astrophysicist and science communicator Lisa Harvey-Smith (CSIRO) was also interviewed. Astronomer and journalist Chris Lintott (Oxford University) was in charge of reporting the news of the citizen science project “The Search for Planet 9“, led by astronomers at the Australian National University and launched in the first episode of BBC Stargazing Live. This citizen science project uses images taken with the Skymapper telescope at Siding Spring Observatory to search for a new planet in our Solar System.

#StargazingABC live episodes were emitted the following week (Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th April 2017). Hosts Professor Brian Cox and TV presenter Julia Zemiro were joined by astronomers to inspire Australia to explore our Universe and tackle astronomy’s most intriguing questions. Astronomer Lisa Harvey-Smith (CSIRO) also participated as TV presenter for the #StargazingABC shows.

AAO’s Fred Watson, Steve Lee and David Malin were interviewed several times during the ABC and BBC Stargazing Live shows.

SAMI observers at the Anglo-Australian Telescope shared the dome with ABC crew while preparing instrument and telescope for observations on the afternoon of Sunday 2nd April.

For #StargazingABC first episode, the Milky Way, AAO astronomers Ángel López-Sánchez and Steve Lee prepared a new astronomical color image using data taken with the CACTI auxiliary camera of the AAT, which was broadcasted in the episode. This image shows Diffuse gas and dust in the heart of the Carina Nebula. The bright star is Eta Carinae, a massive double star at the end of its live that will soon explode as a supernova. The “Keyhole” is the dark cloud in the centre of the image.

Both Stargazing Live ABC events were very successful. #StargazingABC live episodes reached 2.7 million viewers across metro and regional Australia. They also had a huge impact in social media. ABC 1st TV episode reached over 240K people and had more than 8K reactions in Facebook, comments and shares, similar numbers to those obtained with ABC TV’s New Year’s Eve Family Fireworks stream. Regarding Twitter, the #StargazingABC hashtag reached 18.4 million users and produced 16.8K tweets from 6.3K unique contributors. 12.8K of these tweets were produced during the broadcasts, making #StargazingABC trend no.1 in Australia.

Credits of all the photos: Ángel R. López-Sánchez.

More information: AAO news: ABC Stargazing Live at the AAT.