''The Sky Above Us with James Albury'' is a short American
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
show hosted by
James Albury, director of the
Kika Silva Pla Planetarium
The Santa Fe College Kika Silva Pla Planetarium is a 34-foot in diameter, domed theater in Gainesville, Florida. The planetarium seats 60 people and uses two projection systems. An In-Space-System (ISS) 1C-3K digital projection system by RSA Cosm ...
at
Santa Fe College.
Each episode is approximately five minutes in length; and, a new episode is released every two or three weeks. Prior to hosting this series, Albury had spent eight years co-hosting the long-running PBS astronomy series, ''
Star Gazers''. The series is produced at
Santa Fe College in
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...
.
James Albury announced the launch of the astronomy series on his Facebook fan page. In a post dated January 16, 2020, Albury reported that the first episode, ''March of the Planets!'', had been recorded earlier that same day. In that same post, Albury stated that the new series would debut during the last week of February in 2020. The first episode was released online on February 26, 2020.
Content
''The Sky Above Us'' is an
educational
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...
series which describes upcoming
celestial events. Although the show is aimed at the general public, it also contains information which might be of interest to experienced
amateur astronomers
Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...
. The program teaches viewers how to locate constellations and stars in the sky and presents interesting facts about celestial objects.
Due the quarantining efforts during the 2020 outbreak of the SARS-Cov2 virus, an animated version of James Albury was used for 7 episodes (2020-05 "So Long Comet Atlas" through 2020-12 "Center of the Galaxy").
In an April 19, 2020 post on the show's Facebook fan page, James Albury said that the show's theme song was ''Elastic Vibe'' from the album
''Possible Light'' by Ziv Moran
On April 1, 2021, as part of an 'April Fools Day' prank, James Albury posted on the show's Facebook fan page a rant that he was giving up on Astronomy and changing sciences. He followed the rant with a link to the episode ''Karst!'' which focused on Geology, rather than the usual Astronomical topics.
Episodes
Audio Podcast
In addition to the short online television episodes, James Albury and Professor Andy Sheppard also cohosted a series of ''The Sky Above Us'' audio podcasts. Each episode of the audio podcast series was approximately half an hour in length.
See also
* ''
Looking Up with Dean Regas and Anna Hehman'', a twice per month podcast on astronomy and space
* ''
The Sky at Night
''The Sky at Night'' is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date ...
'', a monthly television show on astronomy produced by the BBC
* ''
SkyWeek
''SkyWeek'' was a weekly astronomy television program created by '' Sky & Telescope'' magazine. The show was hosted by Tony Flanders, associate editor of ''Sky & Telescope'' magazine. Each episode of the program was released in one, three, and f ...
'', a weekly television show on astronomy
* ''
Star Gazers'', a weekly television show on astronomy
*
''StarDate'' (radio), a daily syndicated radio show highlighting upcoming celestial events
*
White House Astronomy Night
White House Astronomy Night (and alternatively Astronomy Night on the National Mall) is an event first organized by the White House in conjunction with the Office of Science and Technology Policy to motivate interest in astronomy and science edu ...
References
External links
James Albury YouTube ChannelThe Sky Above Us Podcast*
''The Sky Above Us with James Albury'' Fan Pageon
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
''Official The Sky Above Us Website''
Astronomy education television series
2020 American television series debuts
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