Asemaneshab
Asemaneshab (Persian: آسمان شب, meaning "Night Sky") is the only program that is specialized in astronomy and it is the longest scientific program in the history of Iranian TV channels, so near 10 years have been broadcast and is the most popular program of the IRIB4.[1]
History
The production of TV program of The Night Sky began in 2001 by IRIB4 Channel.
The purpose of the first part of The Night Sky was to cover the International Day of Astronomy for the first time in Iran. The main goal that the producer of The Night Sky set for this TV program was to promote astronomy in Iran. During the last decade, The Night Sky has been able to make a large portion of the public interested in the astronomy and enhance this science in Iran. The focus of The Night Sky always has been to provide educational and updated astronomy-related news to the public in various formats based on the public interest.
Before the Night Sky, IRIB4 channel used to broadcast irregular one-episode programs to cover special astronomical phenomena such as eclipses. The first episode of the Night Sky marked the beginning of the production of a regular, consistent and dynamic TV program with a focus on topics in the field of astronomy - a TV program which has been broadcast constantly to the present time. The fans of this popular program celebrated the production of its 500th episode in 2007 on Yalda’s Night, the longest night of the winter.[2]
Director and Producer
All through the last 10 years, Siavash Safarianpour has been acting as the creator, producer and director of The Night Sky.[3] He is an amateur astronomer who is recognized for his amateur astronomical photography. He started his career as the producer of TV and radio scientific programs in 1999. In 2008 he was selected to receive the Award of Scientific Accomplishments. Now in addition to being a TV producer, he acts as the cofounder and member of the Association of International Project of StarPeace.[4]
The Night Sky is celebrating its one decade of active presence, and is broadcast from the IRIB4 every Monday.