The Sky at Night: 1983
Season 27 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 26.
- 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 27 Progress Shield
The Winter Sky
Sep 9, 1983
The winter stars are more brilliant than those of any other season. Orion dominates the scene, together with his brilliant retinue. Two particularly interesting stars are visible;
A New Frontier
Feb 6, 1983
A week ago IRAS, the Infra-red Astronomical Satellite, was launched and is now moving round the Earth at a height of 560 miles. It will provide new information about objects rangin
Mauna Kea - Half-way to Space
Mar 6, 1983
Mauna Kea, in the Hawaiian Islands, is almost 14,000 feet high. At its summit the air is thin and the skies are clear-which is why some of the world's largest telescopes have been
The Quickest Pulsar
Apr 10, 1983
Patrick Moore talks about a strange pulsar to the Astronomer Royal, Professor Graham Smith.
Neutrino Hunting
May 8, 1983
A mile below the Black Hills of Dakota lies a huge tank of cleaning fluid deep inside a gold mine - the world's strangest observatory. It is designed to collect neutrinos sent out
Speckles of Light
Jun 5, 1983
The stars, many far bigger than our ' star the sun, are many millions of miles away and appear only as specks of light. Until recently it had been impossible to see any details of
Pioneering the Heliosphere
Jul 3, 1983
Two rocket probes, Pioneers 10 and 11, are on their way out of the solar system. They are sending back new information about the heliosphere, that part of space in which the influe
Illuminating Quasars
Jul 31, 1983
First identified 20 years ago, quasars are probably the most dramatic objects in the universe. Though small compared with galaxies, they are extremely luminous, and some of them ar
Unlocking the Secrets of Vega
Sep 4, 1983
Vega has been known to astronomers for centuries. At least, astronomers thought they knew most things about this brilliant blue star. But Vega has been keeping a secret. It is surr
The Autumn Sky
Sep 25, 1983
IRAS, the Infra-Red Astronomical Satellite, continues on its triumphant way. and has now discovered a remarkable 20 million mile dust-tail associated with the faint Tempel's Comet.
The Mount Wilson Observatory
Oct 23, 1983
In 1917 astronomy entered a new era. The great 100-inch reflecting telescope on Mount Wilson in California was completed. It was far more powerful than any existing telescope, and
Discoveries in Space
Nov 20, 1983
IRAS, the infra-red astronomical satellite, is proving to be one of the most successful of all space missions. Already it has carried out an all-sky survey in infra-red, discoverin
The Black Hole Weigh-In
Dec 11, 1983
Black holes are almost certainly the most bizarre objects known. They cannot be seen but they betray their presence by their effects upon more normal stars. Now, for the first time