Tag: nature

Astronomers using telescopes at ESO’s observatories in Chile have discovered three planets around a dim dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth. These worlds have sizes and temperatures similar to those of Venus and the Earth, and they are the best targets so far found in the hunt for life elsewhere in the Universe.

This program describes the most remarkable, perspective changing discoveries in the field of cosmology in the last 100 years. Each discovery was made by scientists working with a radically new telescope.

This program repeatedly hammers home the catastrophic impact of a large asteroid impact on the earth. Several known large impacts of the past are recounted as well as some recent near hits. Recent and planned missions to explore objects in the asteroid belt are reviewed.

Astronomers who search for extrasolar planets were once thought of as crack-pots but are now at the forefront of astronomical research. The various methods used to locate and research these planets and the unexpected diversity of these bodies are described.

It’s a voyage of exploration like no other – to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon and thought to resemble our own early Earth. For a small team of British scientists this would be the culmination of a lifetime’s endeavour – the flight alone, some 2 billion miles, would take a full seven years. This is the story of the space probe they built, the sacrifices they made and their hopes for the landing. Would their ambitions survive the descent into the unknown on Titan’s surface?