Wonders of the Solar System

BBC Two Northern Ireland (Analogue)

Professor Brian Cox paints a breathtaking picture of the wonders of the solar system.

In this spellbinding series Professor Brian Cox visits the most extreme locations on Earth to explain how the laws of physics carved natural wonders across the solar system.

Wonders of the Solar System: Original Series: Episode 2: Order out of Chaos

Episode 2

Episode 2: Order out of Chaos

Original Series

Order out of Chaos

BBC Two - Wonders of the Solar System, Original Series, Order out of Chaos

Professor Brian Cox looks at the rings of Saturn, formed from a chaotic cloud of gas.

Professor Brian Cox describes how nature has carved out the solar system. He looks at the rings of Saturn, explaining how they formed from a chaotic cloud of gas.

Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system. 

Brian reveals how beauty and order in earth's cosmic backyard was formed from nothing more than a chaotic cloud of gas. Chasing tornados in Oklahoma, he 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. 

On an ice-choked lagoon in Iceland, he sees the nearest thing on earth to Saturn's rings. Using the latest scientific imagery and breathtaking graphics, he explains how the intricate patterns round Saturn are shaped by the cluster of more than 60 moons surrounding the planet.

One of those moons makes a spectacular contribution to the rings and is the third wonder of the solar system. Brian describes the astonishing discovery of giant fountains of ice erupting from the surface of Enceladus, which soar thousands of kilometres into space.

Wonders of the Solar System: Original Series

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Wonders of the Solar System: Original Series: Episode 3: The Thin Blue Line

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line

BBC Two - Wonders of the Solar System, Original Series, The Thin Blue Line

How an envelope of gas can create some of the most wondrous sights in the solar system.

Professor Brian Cox reveals how something as flimsy as an envelope of gas - an atmosphere - can create some of the most wondrous sights in the solar system.

Professor Brian Cox reveals how something as flimsy as an envelope of gas - an atmosphere - can create some of the most wondrous sights in the solar system. He takes a ride in an English Electric Lightning and flies 18 km up to the top of earth's atmosphere, where he sees the darkness of space above and the thin blue line of our atmosphere below. In the Namib desert in south-west Africa, he tells the story of Mercury. This tiny planet was stripped naked of its early atmosphere and is fully exposed to the ferocity of space. 

Against the stunning backdrop of the glaciers of Alaska, Brian reveals his fourth wonder: Saturn's moon Titan, shrouded by a murky, thick atmosphere. He reveals that below the clouds lies a magical world. Titan is the only place beyond earth where we've found liquid pooling on the surface in vast lakes, as big as the Caspian Sea, but the lakes of Titan are filled with a mysterious liquid, and are quite unlike anything on earth.

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Wonders of the Solar System

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Episode 2: Order out of Chaos

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Wonders of the Solar System

Original Series

Episode 3: The Thin Blue Line

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BBC Two Northern Ireland (Analogue)

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