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news release
For the attention of: TV editors; feature editors
PR4732
Wednesday, July 9 2003
ALL NIGHT STAR PARTY: A LIVE TV EXTRAVAGANZA
FROM THE OPEN UNIVERSITY AND THE BBC
Imagine a viewer steering a giant telescope thousands of miles away to see the icecaps of
Mars or a spectacular galaxy deep in the Universe. Or imagine them tracking dramatic gas
clouds and impressive galaxies, guided by some of the UK’s foremost astronomers.
A special Open University live programme for BBC Two, All Night Star Party (to be shown
in late August 2003) will hand over some of Britain’s largest telescopes to viewers so they
can see for themselves the full splendour and violence to be found in the Universe – live and
as it happens.
The timing of the programme is ideal:
 Mars is closer to Earth than at any time in the last 60,000 years;
 Britain’s Beagle 2 Mars lander, brainchild of Prof Colin Pillinger from the Open University,
is on its way to search for signs of life on the Red Planet.
The Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory in Cheshire is the venue for this space extravaganza,
which will be staged to coincide with National Astronomy Week. It’s home to the newly
refurbished 76metre Lovell Radio Telescope, which could detect a mobile phone 220million
miles away.
Meanwhile, 3000metres up on the edge of a volcanic mountain on La Palma in the Canary
Islands, astronomy presenter Dr Chris Riley will hand over the giant Isaac Newton Telescope
to viewers to take a closer look at galaxies and planets.
m/f
-2In a parallel observing event, viewers using the internet will be able to target other research
telescopes around the world.
Producer Peter Brown says: “Not only is Mars at its closest for thousands of years, but there
are also spiral galaxies, exploding suns and spectacular swirling gas clouds where stars are
born to be seen. We may even glimpse an approaching comet. The radio telescope will
listen to ‘ticking’ pulsars and other weird wonders and will even listen for signs of extraterrestrial life as part of its work for the Searching for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence project.
“The programme also hopes to make an exciting new discovery during the event. We’ll be
challenging amateur astronomers to find a hitherto unknown asteroid while the programme is
on air, which will serve as a chilling reminder that there are countless fragments of rock
floating around out there. We’re sure the programme will bring home the passion of Britain’s
professional and amateur sky-watchers and capture the elation of discovery in space
science.”
EDITOR’S NOTES
All Night Star Party is an Open University-funded production for the BBC, produced by BBC Popular
Features in conjunction with PPARC, the funding body for UK physics and astronomy. The
programme producer is Peter Brown. Executive producer for the BBC is Jack Weber and programme
executive for the Open University is Chris Palmer. The programme’s academic consultant is Dr Sean
Ryan, of the Open University.
Exact transmission details for the programme will be released in early August. Further details about
the programme and its themes will be available from the All Night Star Party website at
www.open2.net, which will be live from mid-August. Stills are available from
http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/image-bank/programmes.asp
For more information about space sciences courses offered by the Open University, call
01908 653231 or visit http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/subjects/science_page.shtm
MEDIA CONTACT
Neil Coaten
Open University Media Relations
01908 652580
[email protected]