The Sky at Night The Search for Alien Life (BBC Four Monday 10 April 2023)

Today Monday 10 April 2023, there is a new episode of The Sky at Night.

The Search for Alien Life The researchers on Sky at Night examine cutting-edge research in the search for alien life. The current mania among scientists to discover extraterrestrial life is unprecedented. And they’re utilising cutting-edge machinery to investigate some truly outlandish locations in the cosmos.

Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock pays a visit to Imperial College London’s Professor Mark Sephton, who is coordinating the Mars exploration mission Perseverance Rover. Mark demonstrates how the rover’s photos are used to determine the optimum locations to collect these historic samples of rock from another planet and bring them back to Earth. He discusses the cutting-edge science that was used to the Martian rock samples in the search for life.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice for short, will be launched by the European Space Agency in April 2023 to investigate the potential for life on Jupiter’s icy moons. Chris Lintott, a prominent academic, meets Michele Dougherty, also a prominent academic. She explains the relevance of squash to the search for alien life and why icy planets like Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are the next prime locations to look.

Pete Lawrence, our resident astronomer, fills us in on this month’s stunning skyline, which includes Venus, the Hyades, and the Pleiades. In addition, George Dransfield is currently in Chile, looking for extrasolar planets like Earth. We get a glimpse inside the process of finding these potentially habitable exoplanets as she performs crucial telescope maintenance in the Atacama Desert. Dr. Sean McMahon, an astrobiologist at Edinburgh University, is looking into the potential of reflected light to be utilised in future searches for life on exoplanets, and she visits him when she returns to the UK.

Airdate: Monday 10 April 2023 at 22:00 on BBC Four

Season 2023 Episode 1

Our team of astronomers tell us what’s on view in the night sky. From comets to quasars, there is always something fascinating to discuss in the Universe.

Featured image credit: BBC Four