How the Universe Works

New discoveries reveal just how strange Saturn, its rings and its moons are, and using the latest science from cutting-edge NASA missions, experts are steps closer to understanding this mysterious alien world.

Strange alien stars are rewriting everything about the known universe; new discoveries and cutting-edge technology help experts uncover the dark secrets of these hell suns.

New discoveries reveal just how strange Pluto and similar dwarf planets are, and using the latest science from cutting-edge NASA missions, experts are steps closer to understanding this mysterious alien world.

The programme investigates how the Universe came into existence out of nothing, and how it grew from a minuscule point, smaller than an atomic particle, to the vast cosmos we see today.

Black Holes, the most powerful destroyers in the Universe, the most mysterious phenomena in the heavens. For years they were only speculation, now modern astronomy is proving them frighteningly real and showing that they may well shape everything we see.

The evolution of galaxies, from clouds of cold gas floating in space 13 billion years ago, to the vast gravitationally bound systems of today.

Are we alone in the Universe? What makes Earth so different? Part of the answer is our volcanoes. without them we would not be here either. Today we are discovering volcanoes on alien worlds. Are these worlds where, tomorrow, we might find life?

Destructive weather forces are symptoms of Earth's creative energy. In our quest to discover if we are alone in the universe, we shouldn't just look for worlds, we should look for weather; find that megastorm, and maybe we will find alien life.

We once thought that the only planets were in our solar system. We have found many other planets but they are nothing like we expected, from deep-frozen, toxic snowballs, to scorched and boiling nightmares. Is every planet out there a planet fom Hell?

How does light escape from the sun? We take a journey from the centre of the sun, following the path of light. We witness its fiery birth from in the core, its 430,000 mile battle against gravity and magnetism, and its escape from the solar surface.

How and when will the Universe end? Gravity and dark matter are poised to annihilate the Universe in a big crunch. Expansion and dark energy may tear it apart. Or, a phase transition could kill us tomorrow in a cosmic death bubble.

Beneath Jupiter's clouds lie our solar system's deepest secrets: from its violent youth, through the birth of life to the death of the sun. Scientists are discovering that the solar system, the Earth and every living thing exists because of Jupiter.

Beneath the hood of your car lies the history of the Universe. The iron in your chassis, the gold in your stereo and the copper in your electronics all owe their existence to violent cosmic events that took place billions of years ago.

An examination of Venus; and what it may indicate about Earth's future.

A look inside the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way to discover terrifying secrets about parallel universes, wormholes, and space-time.

From the furthest reaches of space to our own cosmic backyard, we count down the discoveries that changed everything we know about our universe.

Scientists have discovered a mysterious ninth planet on the very edge of our solar system. Ten times the size of Earth, this strange world could have moons with extraterrestrial life.

Recent discoveries could explain how supermassive black holes grow so big, one of the universe's most mysterious questions. Neither dark matter nor cannibalism can fully explain these monsters, but the latest science might finally provide an answer.

New discoveries are challenging everything we know about black holes, and astronomers are beginning to question if they even exist. The latest science tries to explain how they work and what they look like, despite the fact we've never actually seen one.

Planets that orbit two suns instead of one might be deadly hell worlds, but new discoveries reveal that sci-fi star systems with binary stars might be optimal places for alien life.

Our solar system hides a dark and violent past, and new discoveries reveal that Earth and the planets were formed from the destruction of strange alien worlds that came before us.

Neutron stars are strange and violent phenomena that defy the laws of physics, and new discoveries reveal that these bizarre nightmares are far more deadly than we ever thought, with the power to destroy planets and even other stars.

Supernovas are the violent death of giant stars, and new discoveries reveal that these cataclysmic events create the elements that are essential to all life in the universe.

Interstellar space is the space between the universe's stars and new discoveries reveal that it's not empty and unremarkable as previously thought, but filled with weird objects and strange phenomena that might hold the darkest secrets of our cosmos.

If a massive asteroid collides with earth, it could end life on our planet as we know it; new discoveries and cutting-edge tech reveal just how close we are to apocalypse and what it would take for the world's leading space agencies to stop it.

NASA is on a mission to send humans to Mars within just 15 years, but to reach this next frontier of space exploration, experts must discover new technology and cutting-edge science that protects astronauts from the Red Planet's deadliest killers.

The discovery of extraterrestrial life might face an impossible challenge: the physics of the universe itself; but using cutting-edge tech, experts might be on the verge of a groundbreaking find -- and the evidence could already be in hand.

Journey to the heart of the M87 supermassive black hole, the first and only black hole ever photographed, and explore the mystery of how it grew so large, what lies inside, and how it controls the entire galaxy.

Experts embark on a ground-breaking mission to land on a comet.

A brand-new NASA mission to the Sun reveals cutting-edge discoveries about Earth's star; as the Parker Solar Probe dives through the Sun's atmosphere, what it finds challenges everything known about this strange place.

New research reveals an intergalactic network known as the Cosmic Web.

Experts attempt to determine where cosmic rays originate in the universe.

Physicists attempt to determine if Dark Matter could actually exist.

Discover how Saturn's moons could rewrite the rules of the Solar System.

Mars is infested with robots, orbiting the planet and roaming the Martian surface on a mission to uncover its secrets; now, Perseverance joins this dedicated group of machines to uncover if there is, or was ever, life on the Red Planet.

The collision of two supermassive black holes is the most violent event that can occur in the universe; experts explore where a black hole's energy originates and what really happens when the two most powerful objects in the cosmos clash.