12 of 167 results for "planets"
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The Story of the Planets

In The Story of the Planets, Professor Brian Cox takes us through images of the planets and shares an overview of the expeditions that humans have taken to explore space. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Brian Cox’s Adventures in Space and Time, a series that seeks to explain our place in the Universe. Professor Brian Cox looks back on decades of discovery and toward the next frontier in space, pondering the question: What’s next?

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Volcanic Planet: Exploring Venus

In Volcanic Planet: Exploring Venus, Professor Brian Cox explains how Venus went from being a planet with the conditions to sustain life to a hot, cloudy, hellish landscape. Learn how greenhouse gases and volcanoes played a role in making Venus what it is today. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.

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Venus: The Sci-Fi Planet
In Venus: The Sci-Fi Planet, Professor Brian Cox explains the efforts that Soviet scientists took to land on Venus. During this mission, they collected data about its atmosphere and took the first color photograph of its surface. Learn what makes Venus a planet that has inspired scientists and science fiction writers. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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Once a Red Planet, Always a Red Planet? The Birth of Mars
In Once a Red Planet, Always a Red Planet? The Birth of Mars, Professor Brian Cox explains how when Mars and Earth were born, they had similar atmospheres and were made of similar material, but the two planets took dramatically different paths. Learn how different Mars is from Earth, and how much Mars has changed in 4.6 billion years. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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The Godfather of the Planets: Jupiter
In The Godfather of the Planets: Jupiter, Professor Brian Cox explains how Jupiter has influenced other planets, including Earth. Learn what scientists have learned about Jupiter and its moons from the Pioneer and Voyager expeditions. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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Giant Pull: Jupiter’s Effect on the Planets
In Giant Pull: Jupiter’s Effect on the Planets, Professor Brian Cox explains how Jupiter’s movement through the early Solar System, into the inner Solar System and toward the Sun, impacted Earth and Mars, and made the planets what they are today. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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The Influencer Planet: Jupiter and the Solar System
In The Influencer Planet: Jupiter and the Solar System, Professor Brian Cox describes how Jupiter has had the largest influence on the formation of our Solar System. Learn how our Solar System is particularly unique within the galaxy. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
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A Boring Planet? Uranus
In A Boring Planet? Uranus, Professor Brian Cox explains what scientists have learned about Uranus, a planet described as featureless and boring. But Uranus does have a mystery! How did it end up tipped on its side with rings that circle it from top to bottom? This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.
Student Article
Nine Stargazing Tips to Enjoy the Night Sky From Home
The article "Nine Stargazing Tips to Enjoy the Night Sky From Home" from BBC Science Focus offers advice for stargazing without a telescope. It includes tips on dressing warmly, preparing your site, adjusting your eyes, spotting stars, planets, and meteors, and using apps to enhance your experience.
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Uranus and Neptune: The Mystery of the Ice Giants
In Uranus and Neptune: The Mystery of the Ice Giants, narrator Ruth Wilson explores the turbulence during the teenage years of our Solar System and the connection between the craters on the Moon and the position of Neptune and Uranus. During the late heavy bombardment, icy objects hitting the moon eventually also changed the orbit of the planets, including scattering Uranus and Neptune far from where they originally formed. This video is excerpted from BBC's Horizon: Secrets of the Solar System, a series that looks at how new planets being discovered are forcing scientists to rewrite the history of our own Solar System.
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Getting Started: Life on Earth and Mars

In Getting Started: Life on Earth and Mars, Professor Brian Cox explains the conditions that are required for life to begin. Learn how Earth and Mars had these conditions at the same time. Could life have started in two places at once? Or might the life on Earth have come from outer space? This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.

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Tied to a Star: The Fate of Mars
In Tied to a Star: The Fate of Mars, Professor Brian Cox explains how Mars went from being full of water to a barren desert. Learn why the Sun is so important for the planets that orbit it, including Mars and Earth. This video is excerpted from BBC’s The Planets, a series that explores the dramatic lives of the eight planets in our Solar System.