Up in Flames

This is the story of how stars were made by the universe and how they engineered everything else in that universe. They spawned further generations of stars, then planets, and eventually the building blocks of life.

Is our solar system unique? Since the first discovery of a planet orbiting another star, some 280 alien solar systems have been identified. By looking at systems far beyond our own, we can understand how remarkable our universe is.

There are 8 planets in our solar system, but there could be a hundred billion planets in our galaxy alone. This show follows the journey of planets as they grow from grains of dust to the magnificently diverse worlds we see today.

Moons come in every possible shape and size. Home to incredible natural phenomena like gigantic geysers and colossal volcanoes, moons also offer perhaps the best chance of finding alien life in the universe.

Stars are not eternal; they die in unimaginably large explosions called supernovas. Second only to the Big Bang, these explosions are where creation and destruction meet. We have just begun to understand these wonders in our sky.

Scientists are discovering volcanoes on worlds we once thought dead. From our nearest planetary neighbor to tiny moons billions of miles away, are these worlds where, tomorrow, we might find life?

On Earth, destructive storms create new opportunities for life. In our quest to discover if we are alone in the universe, we shouldn't look for worlds, we should look for weather. Finding chaotic weather may lead us to alien life.

Over the last 20 years, we have discovered an extraordinary zoo of planetary nightmares outside our solar system -- truly wild worlds, a collection of monsters. Now we must face the question: Is every planet a planet from hell?

The universe is a magnetic minefield. The Sun spits out flares capable of battering life on Earth. But out in space lie true magnetic monsters. As we uncover dangerous megaflares in the cosmos, will we end up in the firing line?

The only reason life on Earth is possible is because of our stable orbit around the sun. Elsewhere in the universe, orbits are chaotic and destructive. Orbits are a creative force and construct the fabric of the universe.

The odyssey of a comet as it sails through space, watching as it evolves from a chunk of ice and rock into an active nucleus engulfed in a gaseous haze. What we learn is a revelation; comets are more mysterious than we imagined.

From icy worlds with more fresh water than Earth to flying mountains of pure metal, asteroids shaped our past and could shape our future. Could these enigmatic space rocks hold the key to how life arises and is extinguished?

The Earth was formed by a series of cosmic cataclysms, including the most powerful blast in the universe. Could the same chain of events have created other earths elsewhere, inhabited by creatures like us?

How does light escape from the sun? Take a journey from the center of the sun. 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.

The first second of the Universe, the creation of everything when space, time, matter and energy burst into existence. It is the most important second in history, which seals the Universe’s fate and defines everything that comes after - including us.

Saturn’s secrets are out: the ferocious weather, the evolving ring system and the discovery of active geology on Saturn’s moons. Scientists are looking for life on Saturn’s moons -- and they may have found it on Titan.