Observing the BBC

The BBC filmed live at SALT for their Stargazing program from Jan 16-18.   The crew has just departed after two weeks of preparation,  filming set positions in town and on the plateau, and finally producing the live segments from Sutherland.   Many members of SAAO and SALT helped out with many of the different phases of the production, from appearing on the show to helping set up the observations to sharing some traditional South African traditions with the BBC crew.

But as the crew filmed us, Chris Coetzee and David Gilbank recorded the film crew at work.   Some of the highlights are below:

Alice preparing Petri for his segment

The spectrograph room taken over by the BBC team

Chris and Vivia directing the next shot

Watching the BBC team in action

The control room turned into a tv set

Shortly before going live with the Galaxy Boys

Greg getting ready for his next shot

No stay in Sutherland would be complete without a braai!

Liz and Petri discussing some of the finer features of the Southern night sky