Returning: Stargazing Live

Physicist Professor Brian Cox and Julia Zemiro will return with another Stargazing Live in May, broadcasting Live over three nights from Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in NSW.

They will air at 8pm AEST in all states on Tuesday May 22 – Thursday May 24.

There is also a post-show panel on ABC Comedy and a kid’s introduction on ABC ME.

Brian and Julia will be joined by a team of celebrated scientists and space enthusiasts, including CSIRO’s Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith who will be showcasing the capabilities of a different telescope each night and ‘Space Gandalf’ Greg Quicke, who will show to ABC reporter Kumi Taguchi the best sights in the night sky, including live views of Jupiter and Saturn, while utilising low-light camera technology to capture live video for viewers. Each episode will take a unique thematic focus, with episode one focusing on the solar system, episode two examining deep space and episode three looking at space exploration.

Highlights include the return of the Stargazing Live citizen science challenge. Off the back of the ground-breaking discovery of a new solar system by viewers in 2017, this year the program will attempt to identify new supernovae, potentially allowing us to refine the known age of the Universe.

Julia Zemiro will take viewers on a ‘road trip’ tour of NASA facilities across the United States, in which she witnesses a rocket launch, meets the voice of the countdown and enrols in Astronaut School at Johnson Space Centre. Stargazing Live will also take over the Parkes Dish in the Parkes Observatory in NSW, using it to listen live for signs of intelligent life from a newly discovered earth-like planet.

Tuesday May 22 – Thursday May 24:

Launchpad from 7.45pm on ABC ME
Launchpad will countdown the 15 minutes ahead of Stargazing Live each night, taking on daily space themed missions, stories from Siding Spring Observatory, interviews with some young space experts, and loads of space trivia.

Stargazing Live from 8pm on ABC (7.30pm in SA & NT, 6pm in WA)
Professor Brian Cox and Julia Zemiro will take us on a journey through the galaxy, broadcasting over 3 nights from Siding Spring Observatory, NSW, immersing audiences in a celebration of the night sky, with a focus on features best experienced in Australia.

Back to Earth at 9pm on ABC Comedy(8.30pm in SA & NT)
Following each night’s Stargazing Live broadcast on ABC is Back to Earth, a 30-minute chat show on ABC Comedy hosted by Brian Cox and Julia Zemiro. Back to Earth allows viewers to journey deeper into the ideas explored on the main show and ask questions of both Brian Cox and a panel of expert scientists.