Wonders of the Solar System

2008 • bbc
4.7
122 reviews
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (5)

1 Empire of the Sun
3/6/10
Season-only
Professor Brian Cox explores the powerhouse of them all, the sun. In India he witnesses a total solar eclipse and in Norway, he watches the battle between the sun's wind and Earth, as the night sky glows with the northern lights. Beyond earth, the solar wind continues, creating dazzling aurora on other planets.
2 Order Out of Chaos
3/13/10
Season-only
Discover how beauty and order in Earth's cosmic backyard was formed from nothing more than a chaotic cloud of gas. Chasing tornados in Oklahoma, Professor Brian Cox explains how the same physics that creates these spinning storms shaped the young solar system. Out of this celestial maelstrom emerged the jewel in the crown, Brian's second wonder - the magnificent rings of Saturn.
3 The Thin Blue Line
3/20/10
Season-only
Professor Brian Cox takes a flight to the top of earth's atmosphere, where he sees the darkness of space above and the thin blue line of our atmosphere below. Against the stunning backdrop of the glaciers of Alaska, Brian reveals his fourth wonder: Saturn's moon Titan, shrouded by a murky, thick atmosphere.
4 Dead or Alive
3/27/10
Season-only
The worlds that surround our planet are all made of rock, but there the similarity ends. Some have a beating geological heart, others are frozen in time. Professor Brian Cox travels to the tallest mountain on Earth, the volcano Mauna Kea on Hawaii, to show how something as basic as a planet's size can make the difference between life and death.
5 Aliens
4/3/10
Season-only
All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the solar system has followed the search for water. We examine the patterns in the ice on Jupiter's moon Europa, which reveal an ocean far below with more potentially life-giving water than all the oceans on Earth. But of all the wonders of the solar system forged by the laws of nature, Brian reveals the greatest wonder of them all.

About this show

Prepare to immerse yourself in an alien world as if you were standing there yourself. Giant ice fountains rising over 100km high; an ocean hidden beneath a frozen crust of ice; storms twice the size of Earth coloured blood red by a vortex of dust and gases; immense volcanoes that could rip a planet apart - this series reveals the true and awesome beauty of our solar system. Using the very latest breathtaking images sent directly from space, groundbreaking CGI transforms the static into the dramatic. Revolutionary surface texturing software creates intricate 3D planetary fly-bys while cameras, capable of 4,000 frames a second, help create the explosive in minute detail. Travelling from the Sun to the far-out reaches of Neptune, the series has at its heart the latest scientific knowledge beamed back from the fleet of probes, rovers and telescopes currently in space, and offers a vivid and unprecedented tour of the world beyond our planet.

Ratings and reviews

4.7
122 reviews
Andrew Smith
April 20, 2014
This is an extraordinary series. The science is mind-blowing, the cinematography awe-inspiring. Prof Brian Cox is a master storyteller and inspiring and enthusiastic teacher who, with the help of the producers, makes often complex and somewhat esoteric scientific concepts totally understandable. This is science almost as a religious experience. You cannot watch this and not be changed in your outlook about the universe and your part within it. It is simply enlightening. Prepare to be amazed.
2 people found this review helpful
Roger Broughton
February 15, 2015
Loved this on TV, could watch it over and over, learning more each time!
janice turnbull
May 18, 2014
Anything Professor Brian Cox is in is awesome!