The Sky at Night: 1968
Season 12 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of The Sky at Night Season 11.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 12 Progress Shield
Home-Built Observatories
Jan 5, 1968
The enthusiasm of astronomers makes them build observatories at their own homes. Tonight Patrick Moore looks at three home-built observatories, including his own, which he has suc
Calendars of Other Worlds
Feb 2, 1968
Leap Year makes this a special month-but variations in earthly calendars are slight compared with those in other worlds. In tonight's programme, Patrick Moore talks about Uranus's
The New Planetarium
Mar 1, 1968
The Armagh Planetarium-the first big public planetarium to be built in Britain outside the London area-was opened to visitors on February 5. Its Director, Patrick Moore, shows view
Black Clouds in the Galaxy
Mar 29, 1968
Patrick Moore discusses with Iain Nicolson the sooty clouds in space which hide some stars and themselves shine in the light from others.
Flights of Space Fancy
Apr 26, 1968
Patrick Moore discusses with Michael Bentine the problems of manned flight beyond the Moon to the planets and stars. They examine the techniques devised in fiction and in fact to s
A Close Pass by Icarus
May 24, 1968
In three weeks' time the asteroid Icarus, first seen in 1949, orbits close to the Earth. Patrick Moore talks to Dr. Vinicio Barocas about the nature and movements of the asteroids
The Unquiet Sun
Jun 21, 1968
Sunspots, or 'storms' on the sun's surface, appear in maximum numbers about every eleven years; and large numbers are expected this year. Patrick Moore discusses with William Baxt
Pulsars
Jul 19, 1968
Strange, quickly vibrating radio sources have been discovered far out in space. These pulsating stars or 'pulsars' are one of the most exciting discoveries of modern science, and h
The Structure of the Moon
Aug 16, 1968
Within a few months from now, man may land on the moon. Patrick Moore discusses with a geologist, Dr. Peter Cattermole, the conditions the first lunar astronauts are likely to find
The Siberian Eclipse of the Sun
Sep 9, 1968
On September 22 a total eclipse of the sun will be visible in Russia. Patrick Moore explains why eclipses are scientifically important and what people in Britain will see.
The Eclipse of the Sun
Oct 7, 1968
Patrick Moore shows film and gives a first-hand description of the recent total eclipse of the sun he saw in Siberia, and discusses its scientific significance with another British
The 'Clocks' of Space
Nov 4, 1968
Radio-astronomers at Jodrell Bank are carrying out a series of remarkable experiments to measure the distance from earth of 'pulsars'-the mysterious regularly-ticking radio sources
Venus, The Hot Planet
Dec 2, 1968
The planet Venus is like the earth in size, yet totally unlike it - as recent American and Russian probes have shown - in being an inferno of heat and clouds. Patrick Moore explai
The Moon and the Earth
Dec 30, 1968
Is it unlucky to see the new moon through glass? The moon has always been thought to have a powerful influence on the earth, causing not only tides but good luck, bad luck, and eve