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The Sky at Night

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Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Iconic series exploring space science and the incredible universe all around us.

Look up! Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Professor Chris Lintott present the iconic, inspirational look at cutting-edge space science and the incredible universe all around us.

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Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Chris Lintott

Pete Lawrence

Lucie Green

Jonathan Renouf

Tim Usborne

The Sky at Night: In the Blink of an Eye

In the Blink of an Eye

12/11/2017

BBC Four - The Sky at Night, In the Blink of an Eye

The world of transient phenomena, events that happen over seconds or even milliseconds.

Exploring the world of transient phenomena, including the event that created the recently-detected gravitational wave, the collision of two neutron stars.

It used to be thought the universe operates on timescales of millions or even billions of years, where change happens with imperceptible slowness. But now a whole catalogue of events have been discovered that happen over much shorter times - seconds or even milliseconds. And these sudden, transient occurrences are among the most mysterious, powerful and destructive events in the universe. Observing them has raised exciting new questions about the way the universe works.

The Sky at Night explores this world of transient phenomena, hearing more about the explosive event that created the recently-detected gravitational wave, the collision of two neutron stars. Chris Lintott spends 24 hours at the SWIFT space telescope base in Leicester in an attempt to detect a gamma ray burst, the most powerful and extreme short-term event known.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock meets the team searching for the mysterious, barely understood transient phenomena called fast radio bursts. And Lucie Green reveals that some important short-term phenomena can occur much closer to home too.

Astronomy used to be about staring up at the unchanging sky, so this search for transitory objects is truly revolutionary. It's time to enter the spectacular world of astronomy that takes place... in the blink of an eye...

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