''SkyWeek'' was a weekly

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

television program created by ''

Sky & Telescope ''Sky & Telescope'' (''S&T'') is a monthly magazine covering all aspects of amateur and professional astronomy, including what to see in the sky tonight and new findings in astronomy. Other topics covered include: *observing guides for planets, ...

'' 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 five-minute formats; and, the show's content and format were similar to that of another weekly astronomy program called '' Star Gazers''. ''SkyWeek'' was carried by many

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

affiliates.

Content

''SkyWeek'' was an

educational Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

program that described celestial events for the upcoming week. The show was aimed primarily at the general public and required no prior knowledge of astronomy. However, it also contained information that was likely to be interesting to experienced amateur astronomers. It depicted celestial objects in the night sky that could be seen without special equipment such as

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

s. Sky and Telescope's associate editor, Tony Flanders hosted the show, which was available in one-, three- and five-minute versions.

Production

''SkyWeek'' was produced by New Track Media, which publishes ''Sky & Telescope'' magazine. The show was distributed to

stations through

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and indepen ...

. Images from the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

and many other professional and amateur sources were used in the production of the show. On April 16, 2014, Tony Flanders announced that the episode covering the week of April 28 to May 4, 2014, would be the last for the series. Flanders reported that the series was being discontinued because of insufficient money from sponsors required to cover the show's costs.

Episodes

Episodes were titled by the week of the events they describe. The production code used was of the form YYMMDD (2 digit year, 2 digit month, 2 digit day) for the date the episode was best suited to be broadcast.

Season 1: 2011

The show premiered on November 19, 2011, with the inaugural episode covering the week of November 21 to 27, 2011.

Season 2: 2012

The 2012 season started on January 1, 2012.

Season 3: 2013

The 2013 season started on January 1, 2013.

References

External links

Official ''SkyWeek'' website

''Sky and Telescope''s YouTube Channel
*{{IMDb title, 4412430 PBS original programming 2010s American documentary television series 2011 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings Astronomy education television series