October 19, 2011 (2011-10-19) – April 28, 2014 (2014-04-28)
SkyWeek was a weekly astronomy television program created by Sky & Telescope magazine.[1] The show was hosted by Tony Flanders, associate editor of Sky & Telescope magazine.[2] Each episode of the program was released in one, three, and five-minute formats; and, the show's content and format were similar to that of another weekly astronomy program called Star Gazers.[3]SkyWeek was carried by many PBS affiliates.
Content
SkyWeek was an educational program that described celestial events for the upcoming week. The show was aimed primarily at the general public and required no prior knowledge of astronomy. However, it also contained information that was likely to be interesting to experienced amateur astronomers. It depicted celestial objects in the night sky that could be seen without special equipment such as telescopes.[4] Sky and Telescope's associate editor, Tony Flanders hosted the show,[5] which was available in one-, three- and five-minute versions.[4]
Production
SkyWeek was produced by New Track Media, which publishes Sky & Telescope magazine. The show was distributed to PBS stations through American Public Television.[4]
Images from the Hubble Space Telescope and many other professional and amateur sources were used in the production of the show.[4][6]
On April 16, 2014, Tony Flanders announced that the episode covering the week of April 28 to May 4, 2014, would be the last for the series. Flanders reported that the series was being discontinued because of insufficient money from sponsors required to cover the show's costs.[7]
Episodes
Episodes were titled by the week of the events they describe. The production code used was of the form YYMMDD (2 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day) for the date the episode was best suited to be broadcast.[8]
Season 1: 2011
The show premiered on November 19, 2011, with the inaugural episode covering the week of November 21 to 27, 2011.[1]
Thanksgiving week is new Moon week, allowing what might be our last good view of the summer Milky Way. Also, let’s take a look at Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets.
As the Moon waxes to half lit, let’s take a look at the brightest star in each section of the sky: Vega setting in the west, Fomalhaut cruising low over the southern horizon, and Capella rising in the east.
This week the Moon puts on the best sky show of the year for stargazers in the western U.S. — a total lunar eclipse. And we’ll look at Jupiter, the king of the planets.
This week boasts one of the year’s best meteor showers — though the nearly full Moon will interfere with viewing them. And we’ll look at a constellation that flies upside-down in the sky.
Wednesday December 21st is the longest night of the year and the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Leading the pack of winter constellations is Taurus, the Bull.
Orion, the Hunter, may be the most amazing constellation in the sky. And Betelgeuse, the star marking Orion’s left shoulder, is a red supergiant that’s ripe to explode as a supernova.
This week Eros, the grandaddy of all near-Earth asteroids, is making its closest approach to Earth since 1975, just 16.6 million miles away. That make it our second-closest neighbor after the Moon.
Mars, the Red Planet, is beginning to appear in the evening sky. In many ways, Mars is the planet most like Earth, with deserts, dust storms, and maybe even running water on rare occasions.
Orion is center stage in the south as the sky grows dark. This constellation contains 7 of the sky’s 100 brightest stars. And most of Orion’s main stars are physically related.
The waxing crescent Moon passes close to three planets this week: Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. All of them travel along a path in the sky called the zodiac.
This is a dramatic week for planet watchers. In the east, Mars is at its brightest and closest to Earth for 2012. On the opposite side of the sky, Venus and Jupiter form a spectacular pair.
Venus and Jupiter are paired spectacularly in the western sky. Meanwhile, the twin stars Castor and Pollux form a less glamorous but much longer lived pair high in the south.
Spring starts this week on Monday night, a date called the Vernal Equinox. For the next six months, days will be longer than nights in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Big Dipper, the best-known star pattern in the sky is now high in the northeast in the evening. It’s just part of the much larger constellation Ursa Major.
You can see five great star clusters with your unaided eyes on evenings at this time of year. One of them is widely known, but rarely recognized as a true star cluster.
Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, is a compact jewel of a constellation. And the dazzling orange star Arcturus nearby may be a visitor from another galaxy.
The waxing crescent Moon appears higher in the west each evening this week. And the planet Venus is also now a crescent, a phenomenon of great historical importance.
The closest and biggest full Moon of 2012 happens on Saturday, May 5th. That means that high tides will be unusually high and low tides will be unusually low.
Venus, Mars, and Saturn are all paired with bright stars this week. Saturn is in Virgo, the great constellation of spring, and the site of a remarkable galaxy cluster.
A partial solar eclipse is visible over most of the U.S. on Sunday, May 20th. And in parts of the West the eclipse is annular, with a ring of sunlight all around the Moon’s dark disk.
This week is your last easy chance to see Venus before it crosses the Sun’s disk on June 5th. And the constellation Hercules, with its magnificent star cluster, is rising in the east.
The Moon experiences a partial lunar eclipse before dawn on Monday. And we look at the historical and scientific importance of Tuesday’s Transit of Venus across the Sun.
The huge intertwined constellations Ophiuchus and Serpens fill much of the southeastern sky. Ophiuchus is sometimes called the thirteenth constellation of the zodiac.
Summer officially begins on Wednesday this week. In addition to having the longest days, this time of year has the most luxurious sunrises, sunsets, and twilights.
The waxing Moon passes Mars, Spica, and Saturn this week. Saturn possesses an extraordinary retinue of moons, including the amazingly Earth-like moon Titan.
Vega, Altair, and Deneb, the three bright high-flying stars of summer, are now well up in the east. Together, they form a huge shape called the Summer Triangle.
Summer evenings are when the Milky Way’s brightest part is visible. Unfortunately, the Milky Way is easily overwhelmed by poorly designed artificial lights.
Between and below Cygnus the Dolphin and Aquila the Eagle lie two tiny but very attractive constellations: Delphinus the Dolphin and Sagitta the Arrow.
The Andromeda Galaxy is on fine display these evenings. It’s the most distant object you’re likely to see without binoculars or a telescope, but it’s right next door in cosmic terms.
A superthin Moon floats below Venus before sunrise on Monday, November 12th. And you might be able to spot the reborn crescent on Wednesday or Thursday evening.
Dazzling Jupiter blazes near the sky’s two most spectacular star clusters — the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, and the Hyades, the closest rich star cluster to Earth.
Saturn glows very close to brilliant Venus before sunrise on Monday, November 26th. And the Moon is spectacularly close to bright Jupiter on Wednesday evening.
Three of the sky’s finest star formations are climbing the southeastern sky. The Pleaides lead the way, then Jupiter with the Hyades, and magnificent Orion rounds out the group.
The Geminid meteor shower will be strongest from Thursday evening through Friday morning, though more meteors than usual will fall all week. Conditions are perfect this year, with no Moon to blind you to the faintest meteors.
Winter starts on Friday, and coincidentally the ancient Mayan calendar flips over to a new "baktun." Contrary to the doomsayers, nothing unusual will happen. But some astronomical phenomena are genuinely dangerous.
The Moon pairs spectacularly with Jupiter on the evening of Christmas Day, December 25. And Sirius, the night sky’s brightest star, is at its highest at midnight as the year winds to its end.
A splendid vista of bright stars and one dazzling planet greets stargazers on the stroke of the New Year. And two remarkable stars that vary in brightness are high in the northwest.
Auriga the Charioteer is nearly overhead in the evening sky. Its prominent pentagon includes dazzling Capella, meaning She Goat, the sixth brightest star in the night sky.
This is a great week to observe the Moon, Earth's closest neighbor in space. It shows much detail to the unaided eye, and it’s amazing through binoculars and small telescopes.
The Moon forms a spectacular pair with Jupiter high in the southeast. They’re in the constellation Taurus the Bull, which was the first constellation of the zodiac at the dawn of history.
Look just below Orion’s Belt for his Sword. It’s centered on the Great Orion Nebula, which is currently giving birth to hot young stars at a furious rate.
Mars is spectacularly close to Mercury shortly after sunset on Friday February 8th. Spot the two smallest planets side by side in the sky — but nowhere near each other in space.
A beautifully thin crescent Moon floats upper right of Mercury on Monday. This is a great week to spot Mercury, something few people have knowingly done.
The constellation Gemini, the Twins, flies almost overhead in late February and early March. Its brightest stars are Castor and Pollux, named after the famous twins of Greek and Roman mythology.
Splendid Leo the Lion rears up on its hind legs in the evening sky. Most constellations bear little resemblance to their names, but Leo really does look like a lion.
Cancer the Crab is home to the Praesepe, or Beehive. It looks like a cloud of light to the unaided eye, but binoculars show that it’s a glorious star cluster.
If we’re lucky, Comet PANSTARRS will shine low in the west shortly after sunset this week. But comets are notoriously unpredictable, so we won’t know for sure until the day arrives.
The Big Dipper, the sky’s best-known star pattern, is now high in the northeast. Find out how you can use it to tell the directions and the time of night.
The constellation Puppis floats lower left of dazzling Sirius. It’s just the tip of the gigantic ancient constellation Argo, the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece.
The Moon pairs beautifully with Jupiter on Sunday, April 14th. Take a good look at Jupiter, the king of the planets, because it’s getting lower each evening.
Three bright lights dominate the late-spring sky: Spica, the brightest star of Virgo the Maiden, Arcturus, the brightest star of Boötes the Herdsman, and the ringed planet Saturn.
Saturn is the second-biggest planet in the Solar System, big enough to fit 800 Earths inside. Its most prominent feature is its magnificent ring system, made of countless chunks of ice.
The Big Dipper is now at its highest in the northern sky. Galileo discovered the double star Mizar in its handle because he was looking for parallax, trying to prove that Earth goes around the Sun.
The faint constellation Coma Berenices hosts one of the closest star clusters in the sky. It has a fascinating history and is a splendid sight through binoculars.
Stargazers throughout the contiguous U.S. can see parts of the huge, ancient constellation Centaurus poking above the southern horizon. From Hawaii or southern Florida this constellation is splendid indeed.
The planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury form an amazingly tight triangle by the end of this week. This is the closest conjunction of three bright planets until January 2021.
The planets Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury form an amazingly tight triangle by the end of this week. This is the closest conjunction of three bright planets until January 2021.
A beautifully thin crescent Moon forms a triangle with Mercury and Venus after sunset on Monday. Then Venus appears a little higher each evening and Mercury a little lower.
Days are long and nights are short during the first full week of summer. Learn how summer is defined in astronomical terms, and why it matters to all life on Earth.
As the sky grows dark in the evening, the stars of the Summer Triangle are rising in the east: Vega in the constellation Lyra, Altair in Aquila, and Deneb in Cygnus the Swan.
Magnificent Scorpius is near its highest at nightfall. This is one of the few constellations that really resembles its name. Antares, its chief star, is strikingly bright and red.
Three spectacularly close approaches take place in the heavens this week. The Moon meets the stars Spica and Zubenelgenubi, and Venus passes close to Regulus.
Two fine constellations are side by side in the south: hook-tailed Scorpius and Sagittarius, the Archer. The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies behind the stars of Sagittarius.
The Milky Way band is one of nature’s most magnificent sights. But most Americans are unable to see it because of the creeping blight of light pollution.
The Perseidmeteor shower winds down this week. Learn about the different kinds of meteoroids, and what happens on the rare occasions when they strike Earth’s surface.
Vega, the brightest star of the Summer Triangle, is almost overhead now. Together with five fainter stars, Vega forms the strikingly geometric constellation Lyra, the Lyre.
Deneb, the faintest star of the Summer Triangle, belongs to the magnificent constellation Cygnus, the Swan, which flies along the Milky Way. Cygnus’s brightest stars form the splendid Northern Cross.
The Moon pairs with Mars early on Monday morning, and it’s spectacularly close to Venus at dusk on the following Sunday. In between, Venus passes a finger’s width above the bright star Spica.
The waxing Moon traverses the sky this week, and can be tracked in its appearance each night as it changes from 20% to 85% lit. The same side of the Moon always faces Earth.
Autumn begins on Sunday, September 22nd. The full Moon closest to this date, called the Harvest Moon, rises just before sunset on Wednesday and sets just after sunrise on Thursday.
You can view the change of seasons in the evening sky. The signature constellations of summer are setting in the west, while bright Cassiopeia, Perseus, Andromeda, and Pegasus rise in the northeast.
Jupiter, the king of the planets, passes extraordinarily near the star Wasat in the sky. Although they appear close together, they’re actually totally different kinds of objects at wildly different distances from Earth.
Venus passes the star Delta Scorpii this week. In June 2000, Argentine stargazer Sebastián Otero caught Delta in a midlife crisis, changing from a normal star to one that varies in brightness.
Dazzling Venus creeps through Scorpius, passing a short distance above the strikingly red star Antares. And in the predawn sky, Mars passes slightly farther from Regulus, the brightest star of Leo.
The Perseus constellation group fills the northeastern sky. The W of Queen Cassiopeia is most striking. Her son-in-law Perseus below is home to one of the sky’s best but least-known star clusters.
Look to the right of Cassiopeia for a formation that I call the Really Big Dipper. It’s composed of the three brightest stars of Andromeda together with the Great Square of Pegasus.
The ancient constellations of the Great Sea fill the southern sky, from Cetus the Sea Monster to strange Capricornus the Sea Goat, whose origin is lost in the mists of time.
Mercury, the innermost planet, appears in the predawn sky as Comet ISON races toward its rendezvous with the Sun. And Saturn, the ringed wonder, joins the action late in the week.