[Phys-L] PBS 'Stellar' Series Shows How Space Discoveries Are Made

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

> A new PBS series offers viewers a behind-the-scenes look at 
> observatories and other institutions that are spearheading the latest
> space discoveries as well as the longer history of space exploration
> and science.

> The six-episode series, called "Stellar," will air on PBS' YouTube 
> and Facebook pages starting [] June 20.

> It will feature three PBS Digital Studios hosts known for their 
> enthusiasm for space: Dianna Cowern from "Physics Girl," Matt O'Dowd 
> from "Space Time" and Joe Hanson from "It's Okay To Be Smart."

That's a quote from:
  https://www.space.com/pbs-series-stellar-explores-space-science.html

Apparently the episodes are short, only about 8 minutes.

They are at the "gee whiz" level, with no equations.  They don't
go into details about the science, but what they do say is correct.
Good production values.  At the very least they communicate some
idea of just how big these observatories are, and some lower bound
on how complicated they are.


The first episode is:

> The Mysterious Quasar at the Beginning of the Universe | 7m 48s
>
> In this first episode of the PBSDS mini-series, STELLAR, Space Time 
> host Matt O'Dowd travels to the top of Mauna Kea to visit the Gemini 
> North telescope and see just how they found this ancient Quasar and 
> it’s massive black hole.

  https://www.pbs.org/video/the-mysterious-quasar-at-the-beginning-of-the-universe-fxhws8/

The second episode is:

> Detecting Black Holes from 5 Billion Years | 7m 36s
>
> Dianna Cowern (aka Physics Girl) visited LIGO, one of the largest and
> most sensitive scientific instruments ever created, to find out how
> they detected gravitational waves for the first time.

  https://www.pbs.org/video/detecting-black-holes-from-5-billion-years-vajpa2/

The rest of the episodes haven't come out yet.