Little Stargazing

Have you ever looked up at the sky

and wondered what's going on up there?

Up there. Up through the clouds.

Have you ever wondered what the moon is made of?

Why the stars twinkle?

What it feels like to be an astronaut living in space?

Sam and Amy have lots of questions about the moon

and this is their moon-watching story.

-Look, Sam, there's the moon!

-Oh, yeah. I can see the moon.

Amy and Sam are looking up at the moon in the daytime!

Dad, what's it doing there?

What's it doing there? It's always there.

Sometimes you can see it and sometimes you can't.

And that's because of the sun shining lots of light onto the moon.

OK, let's see.

That's a good idea!

Using binoculars will really help Sam and Amy see the moon.

Wow! It keeps jumping around!

That's because you have to hold binoculars really steady.

Come on, Sam, let's look for something to balance them on.

There's loads of sticks around here. So many.

Got a great one over here.

Look at that! Fantastic.

Just what we want. Shall we go back?

Why on earth would a stick help?

Put that in there.

Amy, come over here a sec.

Put your binoculars on top of that and see if you can see the moon.

-Is that steady now?

-Yeah, I can see the moon.

-Is it really clear?

-Yeah.

Ah! Much better now!

Why does the moon change shape?

The moon doesn't change shape. It stays the same shape all the time.

You can't always see all of it.

Yes. The sun only lights up the side of the moon facing it.

Sometimes we can see all of this bright side,

but most of the time we can only see some of it.

Everyone is making the shapes of the moon.

Sometimes we can see a full moon

and sometimes a gibbous moon, where we can see most but not all of it.

"Gibbous" is a wonderful word.

Gibbous!

At other times, we can see a half-moon.

We can also see a crescent moon, which looks a bit like a banana.

-Dad, what makes the sea come in and out?

-Well, it's the moon.

-Is it the moon?

-Yes, it's our friend up there, Amy.

It's the moon which causes tides.

Because the moon is so close, we get tides

as it goes round the earth, moving the oceans around as it travels.

-Isn't that amazing?

-OK, guys, I think it's time to go.

But, Dad, can we just stay to see the tide go out?

Well, the tide's going to take an awfully long time to go out.

-Shall we come back later?

-OK.

Let's leave out sticks here.

Sam and Amy are pushing their sticks into the sand

to mark the spot that the sea has reached.

-Come on.

-Let's go!

After lunch, their sticks are exactly where they left them,

but the sea isn't. They're taking a photo

to show just how far the tide has gone out.

The sea is far away.

And the moon is nowhere to be seen.

On the way home, they decide to arrange a visit

to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh

to find out more about the moon.

The observatory is high up on a hill above the city.

-What do you think is up there?

-Umm, I think queen lives up there!

A queen lives up there?!

They are going to meet

an astronomer who can answer all their questions about the moon.

Let's go and see what's in there, then.

Let's go and see.

Inside the dome, Tanya shows them an enormous telescope.

-And open your eyes!

-Cool!

-That's a big telescope!

-It IS a big telescope.

It's a VERY big telescope.

Astronomers use telescopes to learn about space.

-Say "star".

-Star!

It's dark outside now, so it's time to open the door -

there's the moon!

Let's meet William the astronomer and see what he's going to show us.

Hi, guys! Come and look at my telescopes.

-So, have you ever used binoculars?

-Um, yes, quite a lot.

Sam tells William about their walk 12 days ago

when they looked at a crescent moon through the binoculars.

Soon it's time to look at tonight's moon through the telescope.

Step up here, Sam, and you come round here, Amy.

Sam, have a look through that eyepiece there. What can you see?

-Wow! I can see the moon.

-Is it looking bigger than the binoculars?

Much bigger. And it's looking ever so white.

The astronomer sets the telescope to see the moon even closer.

Can you see some craters? They look a bit like big bubbles.

-Can you see things that look a bit like mountains?

-Oh, yeah.

The moon's got mountains like on the Earth.

Is there any water up there?

There is a little bit. Astronomers have used spacecraft

to go and look at the moon.

We've landed things on it and scratched at rocks.

There are little bits of water, but it's frozen solid,

and there's no big bits, nothing like a big sea or a big ocean.

There's just little frozen bits.

Why is the moon shiny?

It's because it reflects the sunlight.

It's not shining on its own.

Sunlight hits it and it comes shining down to us

and it makes it look really bright.

Before they know it, it's time for Sam and Amy to head home.

What did you enjoy best about today?

My favourite part was when we could see the moon

through our telescope and you could see the craters on the moon.

I can't wait to see my photos.

-We can add them to the shot we took at the sea.

-Yeah.

-Good.

Brilliant. It's time to go. Do you want to get some hot chocolate?

-Yes!

-Come on, then. Fantastic. What a great day.

Have you ever looked up at the sky

and wondered what's going on up there?

Up there.

Up through the clouds.

Have you ever wondered what the moon is made of?

Why the stars twinkle?

What it feels like to be an astronaut living in space?

Emma and Joshua have lots of questions about the stars

and this is their stargazing story.

Emma, what can you see in the sky?

Blue-grey stuff. I think it's cloud.

Josh, do you know, is there usually a star that's out in the daytime?

The thing that looks like a star is the sun.

Well done, Joshua. He's nearly there.

In fact, the sun doesn't only look like a star -

it IS a star.

The sun is a burning hot ball that has fire flames on.

We should never look at the sun with your eyes

because you might hurt your eyes.

-Can you see any stars in the sky?

-No.

-The stars only come out when the sun has gone.

-Well done.

It's because the sun stops the light.

There are thousands of stars twinkling in the sky during the day,

but we can't see them because they are hidden

by the bright light of our closest star, the sun.

What can we not see in the sky at the moment?

The stars and the moon, because it's cloudy.

-Can you see anything up there?

-No.

-What a shame.

It's raining and we can't see any stars tonight, can we?

How far away do you think the stars are?

A billion miles. Infinity of miles!

Not quite infinity! After the sun, our closest star

is still 25 million, million miles away!

If it's nice tomorrow,

would you like to go on a trip to see the stars?

-Yeah!

-Do you know where it is?

-Dark Sky Park.

-Dark Sky Park. Would that be good?

-Yeah.

The Dark Sky Park in Galloway Forest is a very special place

and perfect for stargazing because there are no lights

except for the twinkles coming from the stars.

Joshua and Emma, let's get ready now to go to the Sky Park.

We're going to it now?!

-Yeah, so let's get our coats.

-I can't believe it!

When we look up at the sky from within a town or a city,

the light from the cars, buildings and street lamps

light up the sky much like the sun does during the day

making it tricky for us to see all the stars shining.

But the Dark Sky Park is REALLY dark.

Yay, we're here!

-Hi, guys. Hi, kids!

-Hi there!

-I'm Keith.

Do you know what I am? I'm a Dark Sky Ranger.

I look at the stars. Can you see lots of stars up there just now?

-No.

-Why not?

I think it's because the caravan lights are on.

That's right. It takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust

so you can see the skies. We have to switch off the lights.

Shall we do a countdown and make it go dark? You ready?

-OK, I'll go and turn the lights off.

-Fantastic.

Start on ten!

Hold up your fingers.

ALL: Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two,

-one!

-Out!

Wow! I can see tons!

I can see loads of stars!

Because it's so dark, we are using a special camera

to see what Joshua and Emma are up to in the Sky Park.

You might have seen this camera used to film animals at night.

We've been out here for a while.

-What's the brightest star you can see?

-That one.

That one. Now, I've got something very special.

It's a special pointer. It points out the stars.

-Is that the one you're looking at?

-Yeah!

That's not a star! It's a planet!

-I knew that all along!

-Did you? Excellent.

What planet do you think it is?

-Venus?

-Not Venus.

-Jupiter!

-Spot-on!

Well done.

It looks so, so pretty. I can't help gazing up.

Some stars in our galaxy seem brighter than others

because they are either closer to the Earth or they are very big.

If you see something in the sky that's not twinkling,

it's probably a planet!

Does anyone know what the patterns in the sky are called?

-They're called con...

-Constellations!

-That's right!

Have you heard about the North Star?

-Yeah!

-Yeah? It's also called the Pole Star.

It stands up there and it doesn't move very much.

It's hard to find the North Star because it's not very bright.

Do you know how we find it? Pointer constellations.

There's the Plough, there's the handle of the saucepan.

And you see these two stars there?

That's the pointer star. And you follow that right up

and there's your North Star. There's your Pole Star.

Well, have you enjoyed coming out to see us tonight?

-Yes.

-Have you enjoyed seeing all the stars?

-Yes.

-Thank you, Keith.

-Thanks, Keith.

-My pleasure. Thank you for coming.

-Thank you!

-It's been amazing.

-It was very amazing.

-Shall we go back to the camper van and get some hot chocolate?

-Yeah!

Happy star-hunting!

Bye!

Now it's time for Joshua and Emma

to draw pictures of what they saw in the sky.

-Have you enjoyed this evening?

-Yeah.

What are you making here?

That's the saucepan and that's the North Star.

What other planets have you got on your picture?

That's Jupiter and that's the sun.

Shall we see if we can see any more stars?

Shall we? Let's have a look.

# Kelly, watch the stars. #

Have you ever looked up at the sky

and wondered what's going on up there?

Up there.

Up through the clouds.

Have you ever wondered what the moon is made of?

Why the stars twinkle?

What it feels like to be an astronaut living in space?

Dublin, Arenia and Eliana have lots of questions about space travel

and this is their rocket story.

Arenia and her friend Dublin are looking up at the night sky.

Tomorrow they are meeting a real astronaut

who's going to help them launch their rocket.

How high do you think it will go?

I think it will go all the way up to space!

Mum, how high is space?

I don't know. You'll have to ask the astronaut tomorrow.

-Ooo! What's he doing?

-He's fixing the Hubble.

-Did aliens break it?

-No, aliens are only in Doctor Who.

-Come on!

-Now it's time to get some sleep.

-Say bye!

-Bye!

-Bye!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

This is astronaut Jeff Hoffman.

He has spent over 1,000 hours travelling in space

in a real space rocket!

Jeff has come all the way from America.

Nice to meet you. My name's Jeff. I'm an astronaut.

-And what do you have here?

-A rocket.

I've flown on rocket ships five times to go up into space.

I don't see any name on this and every rocket has a name.

Do you have a name for the rocket, maybe?

The Leicester Rocket.

The Leicester Rocket. Now that we have a name for it,

what we really have to do is go and launch it up into the air!

Shall we go and launch?

-Yes!

-OK, come on, launch team. Follow me!

Jeff is showing the children how to launch an air rocket.

He is explaining how air can be used to propel a rocket into the sky.

It's a little bit like if I take a balloon here

and blow it up...

Now, when I let go, air is going to come out in this direction

and the balloon is going to go in the other direction.

Watch.

Whoa! That's just like a rocket and that's what we're going to do here.

Under Jeff's command, the children are getting ready to launch

Leicester the air rocket.

Agh! It's a little hard.

-ALL:

-Five, four, three, two, one.

Fire! Wooo!

Pow!

It looks like it did OK.

What's it like to go into space?

Well, when you get into a really big rocket

and you launch, would you like to know what it feels like?

You're lying on your back and you count down,

five, four, three, two, one,

and all of a sudden it's like someone gives you

a big kick in your back - BOOM! And it's shaking - pow!

Like that, and it goes on for about eight minutes,

and finally, after eight minutes, the rockets stop firing,

and then you know what happens?

All of a sudden you're floating!

And it feels like you're upside down

because the blood rushes to your head.

And it's like you're Superman. You can just float all over.

It's the most fun thing that I've ever done, going into space.

And this is the kind of rocket that Jeff went to space in.

Because of all the fire, smoke and noise coming from the rockets,

everybody watching has to be at least three miles away to keep safe.

Just like the big rocket, this rocket has propellant in it,

so everyone is keeping safe by staying well back.

-Safety officer, do we have a red light?

-Yes!

OK. Launch configuration officer, raise the safety switch cover.

-OK, very good. Safety officer, are we go for launch?

-Yes.

-Launch configuration officer, are we go for launch?

-Go for launch.

-Launch countdown officer, are we ready to start?

-Yes.

-ALL:

-Five, four, three, two, one,

blast off!

Wow!

Look at it! And here comes the parachute.

Whoa! What a great flight!

Good launch, well done.

Have fun in space!

The children hurry over to the space bus

to make a Skype call to an astronaut in America!

Hi!

Very nice to meet you. My name is Dr Bonnie Dunbar.

What did you do in space?

Well, I did research for scientists

and engineers around the world.

And I also helped to launch some satellites.

What did you like best about space?

Well, I liked looking down at the Earth

as we go around it once every hour and a half.

And I liked looking back at the stars and seeing the Milky Way.

Did you sleep standing up?

I didn't know if I was standing up,

because I was weightless! I floated around.

But I had a sleeping bag and I could put it on the ceiling

or on the wall, anywhere I wanted to.

So it didn't matter whether there was an up or a down.

Did you go to the moon?

No, I didn't go to the moon.

The moon was reached before I became an astronaut.

There are 12 American men that have walked on the moon.

I'd always hoped to go to the moon

while I was still an astronaut, but people will go back to the moon

and YOU might be some of those people that go back to the moon!

Bye! Thank you!

You're very welcome. I enjoyed it. Thank you very much.

After a little play it's time to fly home,

have tea and get ready for bed.

-What did you like doing the best?

-Meeting Jeff.

Ah, he was really nice, weren't he? We'd better get you up to bed now.

My best bit was going on the bus and playing with the toys

-and launching the rocket with Jeff.

-That was great fun, wasn't it?

What about you?

My favourite bit was speaking to Bonnie on the laptop.

Really, really good, that was.

Come on, girls, time to get to sleep. Up we go. Good night.

Have you ever looked up at the sky

and wondered what's going on up there?

Up there.

Up through the clouds.

Have you ever wondered what the moon is made of?

Why the stars twinkle?

What it feels like to be an astronaut living in space?

Harry and Halle have lots of questions about the night sky,

and this is their hunting the northern lights story.

It happens in Lapland,

which is in a country called Finland.

Harry and Halle have come to this beautiful northern land

at the top of the world for a very special adventure.

They've travelled with their dads from Scotland

to hunt for the northern lights.

What's another name for the northern lights?

-Aurora borealis.

-That's right.

-Can you say it?

-Aurora borealis.

What is the aurora borealis? Do you know?

Yes, it's like a big light with all different colours inside.

Harry is right. The northern lights are a magical display of colours

that light up the sky at night.

To see them it has to be very dark.

If it's too cloudy, you won't see them at all.

But one place you can always see the northern lights from is space.

Wow!

The best place on Earth to see them from is the cold and frosty north

where Harry, Halle and these husky dogs are now.

But it's not dark enough yet to go aurora hunting.

-Do you think we should have a shot on the huskies?

-Yeah!

HUSKIES BARK

Here in Lapland, people sometimes travel on special sledges

pulled through the snow by strong husky dogs.

What an exciting way to travel!

That was awesome!

-Shall we sit by the fire, get some lunch and get warmed up?

-Yeah!

It might only be lunch time, but it's about to get dark in Lapland.

In winter, the sun starts to set here just after midday.

Lapland is in the far north where, in the winter months,

the sun shines on this part of the world

for a very short while each day.

It's looking a bit cloudy. Will they see the northern lights tonight?

Harry and Halle don't have to wait too much longer to find out.

It's night-time at last.

Halle and Harry are all wrapped up, ready to start their aurora hunt.

They travel to meet Andy. He has one of the best jobs in the world.

He is an aurora hunter!

Follow me and I'll show you a great place to see some auroras.

Andy is taking Harry and Halle to a traditional Finnish tent,

or lavvu, which is a great place to wait

to see if you can spot auroras.

We're not going to see the auroras tonight,

because we have got a lot of cloud. But we'll see it another night.

What a shame. No auroras tonight.

It's time to get warm inside the lavvu instead.

Tell me what you know about the northern lights.

They've got lots of colours.

Do you know where they come from, the aurora borealis?

Think of somewhere a long way away from here

up in space where you think the aurora might start from.

-I'll give you a clue.

-The sun!

-Yes! It's the sun.

So basically, the sun makes something called a solar wind

and the solar wind travels towards the Earth

and when it reaches the earth and the North Pole,

it makes a very special light

called the northern lights, the aurora borealis.

And sometimes they can be still

and sometimes they can be very excited and dash across the sky.

Hopefully, Harry and Halle will see it tomorrow,

the second night of their aurora hunt.

-Are you ready to go aurora hunting?

-Yeah!

We've got a reasonable solar wind and some holes in the cloud.

-Shall we go?

-Yeah!

-Fingers crossed. Come on, let's go.

# You light the skies up above me

# Don't close your eyes... #

Would you like to come and see the aurora borealis?

This is the moment they've all been waiting for!

You can see a very faint light above the hill there.

That's the aurora.

Look! An aurora!

Can you see green, Harry?

Yeah. I can see it, it's getting a wee bit stronger.

It's quite a wee bit lighter from the shed.

-Would you like to take some pictures underneath the aurora borealis?

-Yes.

ALL: Aurora borealis!

What a happy bunch of aurora hunters.

After a magical night, the team settle in at Andy's studio

to look at some more pictures of the aurora borealis.

What do you like about this picture?

-The wee curve in the aurora.

-Above the house?

-Yeah.

That wee green bit there, and it's got that wee twisty bit.

-It's a wee bit like a sweet.

-A sweet wrapper?

-Yeah.

Halle, what do you think of this picture?

It's like a circle cos it's a green bit and then it's a purpley bit

and that makes it like a circle.

It's a reddy-purple colour.

-It is, yeah.

-Kids, do you want to thank Andy

for the lovely time we've had chasing the aurora?

-KIDS:

-Thank you, Andy!

-You're very welcome.

-Seen the Aurora!

-Shall we go outside once more

and look at the night sky to see the aurora borealis?

-Yes.

-Come on, then, let's go.

The children have had an amazing adventure aurora hunting in Lapland.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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