BBC’s The Sky at Night is one of the world’s longest running TV shows.
Since 24 April 1957, the show has been keeping viewers at home up to date with all the latest space science, as well as giving a monthly report on all the best things to see in the night sky that month.
“The Sky at Night and shows like it are important because many people look up at the night sky and wonder what’s going on,” says Maggie Aderin-Pocock, who co-presents the monthly show with Chris Lintott. “With shows like this, we can actually give people the latest cutting-edge information in an accessible way, just so they can be a part of that journey.”
The pair took over presenting the show from British broadcasting legend, Patrick Moore, who created and then led the show until his death in December 2012.
Yesterday, Maggie and the team were filming the show’s latest episode at the University of Bristol, so we visited the show to take a behind the scenes look at how The Sky at Night gets made.
The latest science from JWST
The July 2024 instalment of The Sky at Night will follow up on a previous episode that aired in August 2022, “The James Webb Road Trip”, where the team spoke to UK researchers who had just received the first ever data from the world’s premier new observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
JWST is an infrared observatory with a 6.5m, gold plated mirror that can study all aspects of the cosmos – from our Solar System to galaxies on the edge of the observable Universe – in incredible detail.
In this episode, the team were revisiting those researchers to find out what they’ve learned in the two years since.
“As a space scientist and astronomer I have a general knowledge of quite a few things, but when we meet the experts they go into deep depth,” says Maggie. “They talk about the latest information, and it enhances my knowledge. Then we can share those with other people. It’s a real joy.”
Maggie was speaking to Hannah Wakeford, who uses JWST to investigate exoplanet atmospheres. In this episode, she highlighted one specific hot Jupiter, WASP 17b.
Using JWST, Wakeford and her colleagues have been able to discover that the planet’s atmosphere is filled with crystals of silica, most commonly found here on Earth as sand or quartz.
Behind the scenes on The Sky at Night
When I arrived at the university building where the recording was taking place, I was greeted by the two-person crew who would be filming that day: series producer Amena Hasan and assistant producer Lily Shepherd.
The pair were responsible for every aspect of filming, beginning with carting all the equipment up the four stories to Wakeford’s office.
Artfully using the very limited room on offer, they set up their lights and cameras ready to film Maggie interviewing Wakeford on her research, which would run as a segment on the final show.
During filming, the two women managed both sound and video across three different cameras, while Hasan simultaneously directed, keeping an eye out for any sections that would need to be rerecorded, or visuals which would need a close-up shot later.
(The impressiveness of The Sky at Night managing all this with such a modest crew was particularly highlighted by the fact a TV-drama was filming across the road, which had a behind the scenes crew of at least 20 people that we could see!)
“It is a monthly programme, which means we’re always up against a deadline,” says Hasan, speaking on other challenges the show faces. “We always want to be as current and recent as possible, so it is quite frantic at times, but really enjoyable.”
“My favourite thing about working on the show are the people – from the presenters to the scientists and the team that I work with. There is so much passion and love of the subject that shines through, and that’s always a joy to try and capture."
Making science understandable on the Sky at Night
To turn this passion for space into good TV, Maggie, Wakeford and the production crew all worked together to map out how they would flow from topic to topic.
“The Sky at Night has this really nice way of summarising what you’ve been working on for over a year into this nice, neat little storyline,” says Wakeford. “It’s actually quite nice to have people working with you on creating that narrative.”
Though the structure of the conversation was planned, the actual content of the interview is completely off the cuff.
The enthusiasm of both interviewer and interviewee is clear, as they excitedly look through spectra charts of WASP 17b, discussing exactly how JWST’s observations reveals the presence of quartz crystals flying about the exoplanet’s atmosphere.
“I love to be able to tell a story,” says Wakeford. “These are planets are remote. They’re completely alien to us. Being able to explain what we’re seeing so that people are as excited as we are is important to me. And that’s something I love doing.”
Putting the show together
After the interview, Maggie ventured outside to film a few pieces to camera, which help glue the various segments of the show together and before long the team had everything they needed in Bristol.
But the episode was far from done. Later that week the crew would be heading to Cambridge to film Chris Lintott's sections and to Leicester to speak with Leigh Fletcher, who uses JWST to examine a planet a little closer to home, Jupiter.
Then, once all the filming is in the bag, it’s back to the BBC’s Science Unit in Glasgow to edit the show together, ready to add another chapter to The Sky at Night.
"The Sky at Night is an incredible series to work on. It comes with such a heritage that it feels quite special to be a part of it for a short time," says Hasan.
You can watch the episode for yourself on 8 July, at 10pm on BBC Four.
To find out more about Hannah Wakeford’s research on WASP 17b, pick up the August 2024 issue of Sky at Night Magazine.
