In The Most Dangerous Place in the Universe, we take a tour of the cosmic hot zones and danger areas. We journey through black holes, galaxy mergers, gamma ray bursts and magnetars. Super massive black holes can ‘lasso’ the Earth out of the solar system. A clash between two galaxies can result in a barbaric ritual called ‘galactic cannibalism’ in which the dominant galaxy’s super massive black hole literally eats the weaker one. Magnetars are a cosmic magnetic force so strong it could wipe out data on every credit card on the planet. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would be like on other planets, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

In "The End of the Earth", our experts discuss how the earth has become an extremely dangerous place to live within the wider universe. According to many cosmologists, it is only a matter of time before a cosmic force will annihilate the planet. At this very moment, NASA’s top brass and other scientists are arming themselves with the latest technology to pre-empt an apocalyptic attack. We investigate a number of bizarre, unexplained and terrifying ‘end of earth’ scenarios. We meet scientists from around the world who are racing against the clock to develop technology to detect and defend our planet from apocalyptic demons. The prime suspects: asteroids, comets, gamma ray bursts, the sun and the Big Rip - a mysterious phenomenon called ‘dark energy’ which could eventually rip apart everything in the universe.

Spaceship Earth takes viewers on a high performance ride through the formation of the third planet from the Sun. Galactic investigators hunt for answers to some of man’s most puzzling questions. How was Earth created? What creatures hold clues to how life began? Where did the planet’s water come from? We also ask why Earth is the most habitable planet in the universe for humans. We ask what forces threaten its ultimate demise. From its early struggles with asteroids and comets to its current battles against global warming, the creation of Spaceship Earth is one of the most complex and controversial scientific detective stories of all time.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in the solar system. The fourth brightest object in Earth’s sky, after the Sun, the Moon, and Venus, Jupiter is more than three times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star. Due to its prominence in the sky, the Romans named the planet for their chief god, Jupiter. Jupiter orbits the Sun at an average distance of 778 million km (484 million mi), which is about five times the distance from Earth to the Sun. Jupiter’s year, or the time it takes to complete an orbit about the Sun, is 11.9 Earth years, and its day, or the time it takes to rotate on its axis, is about 9.9 hours, less than half an Earth day. Unlike the rocky inner planets of the solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), Jupiter is a ball of dense gas and has no solid surface. Jupiter may have a core composed of rock-forming minerals like those trapped in comet ices, but the core makes up less than 5 percent of the planet’s mass. The force of gravity at the level of the highest clouds in Jupiter’s atmosphere is about 2.5 times the force of gravity at Earth’s surface.

Gas and clouds in Jupiter’s atmosphere travel at high speeds. This phenomenon is not fully understood but it is related to the planet’s high rate of rotation. These gases and clouds travel faster at the equator than at higher latitudes. The gases and clouds of the atmosphere are thrown outward as the planet rotates, similar to the manner in which mud is thrown outward from a spinning wheel. The balance between gravity and this outward force, which is proportional to the rotational speed of the atmosphere, noticeably distorts the planet’s round shape. Higher speed at the equator produces greater outward force, causing an equatorial bulge, whereas lower speed at the poles gives gravity the edge, leading to polar flattening. Jupiter’s equatorial diameter is 143,000 km (89,000 mi), 6.5 percent larger than the polar diameter of 133,700 km (83,000 mi).

saturn is the sixth planet in order of distance from the Sun, and the second largest in our solar system. Saturn’s average distance from the Sun is 1,435 billion km (891.5 million mi), or about 9.59 astronomical unit (AU). An AU is equal to the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 150 million km (93 million mi). The diameter of Saturn is about 121,000 km (75,000 mi), and its mass is equal to the mass of about 95 Earths, making it the second largest planet in our solar system after Jupiter. The Romans named the planet after their god of agriculture. Saturn's most distinctive feature is its ring system, which was first seen in 1610 by Italian scientist Galileo, using one of the first telescopes. He did not understand that the rings were separate from the body of the planet, so he described them as handles (ansae). The Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens was the first to describe the rings correctly. In 1655, desiring further time to verify his explanation without losing his claim to priority, Huygens wrote a series of letters in code, which when properly arranged formed a Latin sentence that read in translation, “It is girdled by a thin flat ring, nowhere touching, inclined to the ecliptic.” The rings are named in order of their discovery, and from the planet outward they are known as the D, C, B, A, F, G, and E rings. These rings are now known to comprise more than 100,000 individual ringlets, each of which circles the planet.

MMars is one of the planets in the solar system, it is the fourth planet from the Sun and orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 228 million km (141.7 million mi), or 1.524 astronomical units (AU). An AU is equal to the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or about 150 million km (93 million mi). Mars is named for the Roman god of war and is sometimes called the red planet because it appears fiery red in Earth’s night sky.

Mars is a relatively small planet, with about half the diameter of Earth and about one-tenth Earth’s mass. The force of gravity on the surface of Mars is about one-third of that on Earth. Mars has twice the diameter and twice the surface gravity of Earth’s Moon. The surface area of Mars is almost exactly the same as the surface area of the dry land on Earth. Mars is believed to be about the same age as Earth, having formed from the same spinning, condensing cloud of gas and dust that formed the Sun and the other planets about 4.6 billion years ago.

The Martian day—that is, the time it takes Mars to rotate once on its axis—is 24 hours and 37 minutes long. The Martian day is sometimes called a sol. Its year, or the time it takes to revolve once around the Sun, is about two Earth years long. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are named after the dogs of the Roman god Mars. These tiny bodies are heavily cratered, dark chunks of rock and may be asteroids captured by the gravitational pull of Mars. Phobos orbits Mars once in less than one Martian day, so it appears to rise in the west and set in the east, usually twice each day. Deimos has the more ordinary habit of rising in the east and setting in the west.

Mercury is the first planet in distance from the Sun in the solar system. The smallest of the rocky or terrestrial planets that include Venus, Earth, and Mars, Mercury has a global magnetic field, but only a trace of an atmosphere and no moons of its own. It is the second hottest planet after Venus. Mercury circles the Sun every 88 Earth days at an average distance of 58 million km (36 million mi) and takes 59 days to turns on its axis. It retains an ancient cratered surface that has changed little since the formation of the solar system, making the planet of special interest to planetary scientists. Mercury was named for the fleet-footed messenger of the gods in Roman mythology.

Mercury’s diameter is 4,879 km (3,032 mi), about 40 percent the diameter of Earth or about 40 percent wider than the Moon. Mercury’s volume and mass are about one-eighteenth that of Earth. Mercury’s mean density, 5.4 g/cm³, is nearly as great as that of Earth and is higher than that of any of the other planets. The force of gravity on the planet’s surface is about one-third of that on Earth’s surface or about twice the surface gravity on the Moon and about the same as the surface gravity on Mars, which is larger than Mercury but less dense. Two moons in the solar system—Jupiter’s Ganymede and Saturn’s Titan—are also larger than Mercury but are much less dense and hence have lower gravity (about the same as the Moon).

Venus is the second planet in distance from the Sun, but the hottest planet in the solar system (hotter than Mercury). Its hellish surface has broiling temperatures that make rocks glow red under a crushing atmosphere that shrouds the planet in thick layers of clouds. Venus is nearly the same size as Earth, but takes 243 days to rotate on its axis in the opposite direction. It also lacks a magnetic field and a moon. Why conditions on Venus and Earth are so different remains a major puzzle for planetary scientists. Venus circles the Sun at a distance of 108 million km (67 million mi) in a little over seven months (about 225 days). The planet was named for Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty.Except for the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. It is often called the morning star when it appears in the east at sunrise, and the evening star when it is in the west at sunset. In ancient times the evening star was called Hesperus and the morning star Phosphorus, Eosphoros, or Lucifer.

In The Outer Planets, we explore new cosmic discoveries which are creating a fundamental rethinking of our solar system. Uranus is a toxic combination of hydrogen, helium and methane. Scientists speculate that the planet was knocked on its side after colliding with another body. Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, is cold and barren, but some scientists speculate that liquid water might exist under Triton’s icy surface. If this is proven true, Triton could be the home to one of the biggest discoveries of all time. Cold and inhospitable, Pluto completes one orbit around the solar system every 248 years. Cutting-edge computer graphics are used to bring the universe down to earth to show what life would be like on other planets, and to imagine what kind of life forms might evolve in alien atmospheres.

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