Planet Earth: a cradle of life floating peacefully through space. Or is it? Our planet can be one of the most hostile places in the universe. How the Universe Works s6e7: War on Asteroids
‘Asteroid: this is a huge natural disaster that we can prevent.’ ibid. Phil Plait
The most potent weapon that planetary protectors can currently utilize is a nuclear bomb. However, using one to blow up an asteroid has its drawbacks. ibid.
Destroy them before they even become a threat. Scientists are drawing up battle plans. ibid.
We need to find them early in order to have time to deflect them. ibid.
Speed, size and distance from the earth determine degree of danger. ibid.
Asteroids can be made of rock, metal or a combination of the two. ibid.
Vast cosmic shotgun shells … Planetary protectors want to stop an apocalypse. Their mission is to protect the Earth from these seemingly inevitable asteroid impacts. ibid.
For thousands of years planet Mercury has baffled astronomers. But now its secrets have been revealed. It’s a bizarre world unlike any other. This is a tough world. How the Universe Works s6e8: Secret History of Mercury
Yet this world has been brought to life with water ice, volcanism and tectonic activity. ibid.
Mercury orbits in the innermost solar system, the closest planet to the Sun. Around three times closer than Earth. ibid.
Mercury had a magnetic field … Mercury’s core must be huge. ibid.
Giant cliffs stretching for hundreds of kilometres … known as fault scars. ibid.
Those long-dead planets could help explain why there is life on Earth. How the Universe Works s6e9: Solar System's Dark History
Astronomers have discovered more than 2,600 planetary systems to date. But none are quite like our home. ibid.
Do we really know how the formation of our solar system evolved? ibid.
For centuries astronomers have been trying to find a planet [Vulcan] between Mercury and the Sun, but without success. ibid.
The area close to our Sun isn’t just missing asteroids and small planets, it’s also missing really big ones. ibid.
So what happens when a planet the size of Jupiter moves inwards? ibid.
Weirdly, we have nothing in the Super-Earth size range which is between Earth and Uranus. ibid.
What is our universe made of? It’s the biggest unanswered question in science. There’s a hidden structure and a force that exists within space itself. A force that connects everything in our universe … We call it Space/Time. How the Universe Works? s6e10: Mystery of Spacetime
We feel the curving of Space/Time as the force we call gravity. ibid.
Neutron stars. Extreme gravity magnetic hot. A cosmic conundrum. How the Universe Works s7e1: Nightmares of Neutron Stars, Discovery 2019
Neutron stars have suddenly moved into the astronomical limelight. ibid.
It’s the first time astronomers have seen two neutron stars collide. ibid.
Supernovas: gigantic explosions that light up the cosmos. Inside the star’s core temperatures and pressures are immense. A ticking tomb-bomb that explodes with indescribable energy. How the Universe Works s7e2: When Supernovas Strike
Giant factories fusing heavier elements into heavier ones. But the hard works doesn’t start till their final years. ibid.
The breakout is a giant star’s death rattle. ibid.
Black holes, long considered the bullies of the cosmos. But are they really so bad? Simple but unpredictable, black holes rip planets to shreds, but they also give birth to stars. They build galaxies and may have lit up the dark in the universe. How the Universe Works s7e3: How Black Holes Made Us
‘There is an upper limit to black holes: it’s about 50 billion times the mass of the sun.’ ibid. astrophysicist
All across our galaxy stunning clouds of gas and dust – nebulas. They control secrets of the cosmic circle of life. The birth and death of stars. Planets. And us. How the Universe Works s7e4: Secret World of Nebulas
‘The universe started as one giant nebula.’ ibid. scientist
The first solid objects form out of a cloud of dust surrounding our new star. Asteroids and meteorites forming at the same time contain the chemical fingerprint of our nebula. ibid.
Interstellar space is the space between the stars. Now astronomers are probing this great abyss and discovering something remarkable. The greatest secrets in our universe could lie between the stars. How the Universe Works s7e5: The Interstellar Mysteries
One other. Scientists call the gas and dust between the stars the Interstellar Medium. ibid.
The Big Bang. The story of everything. Time, the universe, us. That’s the traditional view, but is it right? More and more scientists aren’t sure. How the Universe Works s7e6: Did the Big Bang Really Happen?
‘How can we really say that the universe expanded faster than the speed of light?’ ibid. Michelle Thaller
The same amount of material was shot out over the same distance in all directions. ibid.
A singularity and the laws of physics don’t mix. ibid.
Across the universe an endless war rages. A bitter struggle between invisible forces. Dark matter and dark energy. Battling for control of the universe. Shadowy forces dictating our past, our present and our future. How the Universe Works s7e7: Battle of the Dark Universe
What we see is just a small part of the cosmos. The rest is invisible, unknown. A dark universe. ibid.
‘Dark matter is attractive, dark energy is repulsive.’ ibid. scientist
Earth: a planet defined by life. But is Earth unique? The ingredients for life are spread throughout the universe. Is life inevitable? What does life need to get started? And once started, can life spread? How the Universe Works s7e8: Hunt for Alien Life
It’s not just meteors, our planet will change. And our sun will eventually die. To survive in this universe we need an insurance policy: to colonise other worlds. So can we find a new home in the galaxy? Can we find Earth 2.0? How the Universe Works s7e9: Finding the New Earth
Cassini goes where no spacecraft has gone before. A death flight revealing the deepest secrets of Saturn. How the Universe Works s7e10: Cassini’s Final Secrets
During its lifetime, Cassini took multiple images of the Hexagon [pole]. ibid.
So if the rings didn’t form at the same time as Saturn, how did they form? And what’s keeping them in place? ibid.
Cassini revealed that geysers are blasting out liquid water. Enceladus is not a solid ball of ice. ibid.
Why are Titan’s dunes facing backwards? … These organic dunes contain the building blocks of life. ibid.
NASA’s revolutionary Juno probe is on a daring voyage to Jupiter. Its goal: to reveal the deepest histories of our solar system. How the Universe Works s8e1: When NASA Met Jupiter, Discovery 2020
A world 550 million miles away. But we didn’t send Juno just to send pictures. One of its main goals is to peer deep into Jupiter’s dark heart. ibid.
NASA has set its sights on Mars. Its goal is to send humans to the red planet in the next 20 years. But conquering our planetary neighbour is a tougher challenge than we ever thought possible. How the Universe Works s8e2: NASA’s Journey to Mars
The red planet is covered in sticky dust. ibid.
Islands have edges. Planets have edges. Even galaxies have edges. But what about the universe? The edge of what we can see, the edge of where we can go or the edge of reality itself. How the Universe Works s8e3: Edge of the Universe
Expansion means our observable universe stretches for a colossal 46 billion light years in all directions, 92 billion light years across, and getting bigger by the second. ibid.