Our Sun could erupt at any moment, spewing a vast wave of charged particles toward Earth that could leave millions of people without power for up to a year. Learn about the latest missions to protect our planet from this potentially devastating threat.
Cassini-Huygens has given us a more detailed account of Saturn than we could have ever imagined. Breathtaking images of Saturn and its sparkling rings, a massive 6-sided polar storm, and 62 moons - including the most bizarre worlds in our Solar System -- we have seen them all thanks to Cassini.
2/6 • Space Probes • 2016 • Astronomy
To discover what created the Milky Way, scientists have to look back 13.7 billion years to the moments just after the Big Bang.
S3E7 • How the Universe Works • 2014 • Astronomy
To coincide with the switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator complex, Professor Jim Al Khalili from the University of Surrey delves into over 50 years of the BBC science archive to tell the story behind the emergence of one of the greatest theories of modern science, the Big Bang. The remarkable idea that our universe simply began from nothing has not always been accepted with the conviction it is today and, from fiercely disputed leftfield beginnings, took the best part of the 20th century to emerge as the triumphant explanation of how the universe began. Using curious horn-shaped antennas, U-2 spy planes, satellites and particle accelerators, scientists have slowly pieced together the cosmological jigsaw, and this documentary charts the overwhelming evidence for a universe created by a Big Bang. Professor Al-Khalili comments: "This one-off documentary was made by the BBC Horizon team and was great fun to be involved with. The archive footage is fantastic too."
When a team of scientists have launched a space probe to the heart of our solar system in brand-new mission to our Sun, it makes fresh discoveries reveal how it works; along the way, experts uncover a surprise find on Mercury.
S1E3 • Mysteries of our Universe: Our Solar System • 2019 • Astronomy
Landing humans on Mars will be hard, but keeping them alive will be even harder. NASA scientists are on the verge of designing some of the most innovative rockets and training the astronauts who will pilot them.
5/6 • Mars: The Secret Science Series 1 • 2014 • Astronomy
Sagan discusses comets and asteroids as planetary impactors, giving recent examples of the Tunguska event and a lunar impact described by Canterbury monks in 1178. It moves to a description of the environment of Venus, from the previous fantastic theories of people such as Immanuel Velikovsky to the information gained by the Venera landers and its implications for Earth's greenhouse effect. The Cosmos Update highlights the connection to global warming.
4/13 • Cosmos: A Personal Voyage • 1980 • Astronomy