And if one black hole isn’t violent enough, try two black holes duelling for dominance. In the vastness of space black holes occasionally pair off. It may appear as though they are engaged in some sort of cosmic courtship, but these unions are anything but harmonious. When two black holes get too close they become trapped by each other’s gravity. The two orbit around each other like whirling dervishes. These binary black holes will eventually collide and coalesce. ibid.
When black holes collide they create wild vibrations called gravitational waves. Which spread across the fabric of Space and Time. ibid.
But if a black hole is extremely tiny, the laws of quantum mechanics merge with the laws of General Relativity. ibid.
The black holes that radiate are called mini black holes. Which are much smaller than their stellar mass or supermassive black hole cousins. ibid.
The celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking proposed that if mini black holes exist then they must emit radiation, which has been called Hawking Radiation. It is believed that this radiation will cause a tiny black hole to evaporate, and potentially to disappear. Hawking gave mathematical evidence that showed that when a tiny black hole forms and then evaporates some of the information that went into the black hole never comes back out. This startling prediction caused a fire-storm amongst physicists. Because the laws of quantum theory insist that information can never be completely destroyed. ibid.
Our closest neighbour is as mysterious as it is inextricably tied to our survival. Its silvery luminescence has captivated us since man first gazed at the stars. Closer inspection reveals an ever more potent source of myth, mystery and controversy. An unseen force that pulls the Earth around every second of the day. A source of illusion and wonder. The Universe s2e3: Mysteries of the Moon
While on the Moon Armstrong reported seeing what he called an area that is considerably more illuminated than the surrounding area. And the area seems to have a slight amount of fluorescence to it ... Scientists have witnessed similar occurrences. ibid.
The cause of full moon fever here on Earth may be even harder to diagnose. What impact if any does the full moon have on our bodies and our minds? ibid.
And when only red or orange light reaches the lunar surface, the moon appears to us as deep red – another optical phenomenon that adds to the moon’s mystique. ibid.
It outshines every other body in the night sky. ibid.
It’s a crucible of creation. And destruction ... Now astronomers have pierced the galaxy’s heart of darkness to find out a way through the Milky Way. The Universe s2e4: The Milky Way
It’s one hundred thousand light years in diameter. Has a trillion times more mass than our sun. It began about thirteen billion years ago. And is still under construction. This is our galaxy. The Milky Way. ibid.
This is where we live. Our solar system is among the Milky Way’s spiral arms 26,000 light years from the bustling centre. The galaxy is so large that it takes the Earth 200 million years to complete one lap. ibid.
A community of two to four hundred billion. ibid.
Our solar system had made a complete circuit only fourteen times since it formed. ibid.
Lurking in the shadows of the solar system are worlds so chemically active and misshapen they border on the bizarre. These are the moons surrounding the planets of the solar system. The Universe s2e5: Alien Moons, History 2008
Before the 1990s most astronomers agreed that there were only 34 moons in the solar system. Most of those were regular moons like our own, spherical bodies that orbit their host planet in the same direction it rotates. ibid.
Dark Matter and Dark Energy combined make up 96% of the universe ... Dark Matter’s invisible presence appears to be everywhere. But Science has not directly proven Dark Matter particles exist. There are many theories but no answers. And observing something you can’t see isn’t easy. The Universe s2e6: Dark Matter/Dark Energy
It’s estimated Dark Matter makes up 23% of the universe. While ordinary matter makes up only 4%. But what makes up the final 73% of the universe? Scientists have proposed that a new mysterious Dark Energy is dominating space, and its repulsive energy is driving the galaxies apart ... Scientists were shocked to realise that its growth wasn’t slowing down, it was speeding up. This implied a bleak future. ibid.
Type 1A supernovas are always consistently bright no matter where they appear in space. Using these Type 1A supernovas, two different teams set out in the 1950s to measure the deceleration rate of the universe ... Having studied the results of sixty Type A1 supernovae, the teams were shocked by what they found. The universe wasn’t slowing down, its expansion was speeding up. ibid.
It’s perhaps the Holy Grail of planetary science. Are we a lonely planet or does life exist beyond Earth? The Universe s2e7: Astrobiology
Space travel: It will test the limits of human capacity and human ingenuity. The Universe s2e8: Space Travel
‘There’s a dirty little four-letter word and that is cost.’ ibid. Kaku
With eyes closed the particles spark flashes. ibid.
They are cosmic killers. Spectacular detonations. That for an instant out-shine a whole galaxy. Out of this exceptional cosmic catastrophe comes creation ... Supernovas: the sensational death of stars produce the biggest blasts in the universe. The Universe s2e9: Supernovas
A mighty supernova goes off somewhere in the universe every second. ibid.
Type 1A supernovas release no hydrogen; explosions are uniform in size and luminosity. Type 2 supernovas release large amounts of hydrogen; the explosions vary greatly in size and luminosity. ibid.
Gamma Rays are the most powerful form of light known in the universe. ibid.
Supernovas and the gamma ray bursts associated with them are the brightest beacons in the universe. ibid.
Twelve are zodiac constellations, but in reality there are thirteen. The Universe s2e10: Constellations
Within each constellation stars are born while others are swallowed by black holes. Every supernova explosion, exotic star and nebula, has one thing in common: they are identified in the constellation in which they are located. But even before we invented high-powered telescopes to see them, constellations served an important purpose – they brought people the nightly news. ibid.
Like countries, constellations divide the sky into territories. ibid.
Does our Sun have a dead nemesis that dooms life on our planet? Is it possible to travel through Time? What happened to Matter’s evil twin? How did the water on Mars disappear? And what came before the Big Bang? Big questions and cutting edge science. The Universe s2e11: Unexplained Mysteries
What is this mysterious antimatter? And where did all of it go? ibid.
Every time matter comes into contact with antimatter the outcome is the same – they annihilate each other. ibid.
One possibility is that perhaps there was a slightly higher percentage of matter than antimatter in the early universe. ibid.
The apocalyptic event has been called the K-T Extinction, because of a thin band of geological signatures dating to that time all over the world, known as the Cretaceous Tertiary, or K-T boundary. It separates the age of reptiles and the age of mammals. Dinosaur bones are not found above the K-T boundary. The Universe s2e12: Cosmic Collisions
In the 1990s a Mexican oil company found the smoking gun. While drilling off the Yucatan peninsula they discovered a hundred-mile-wide impact crater buried under water beneath three thousand feet of limestone. Analysis of the rock confirmed the crater had been formed by an asteroid. ibid.
Objects are periodically bumped out of the Kuiper Belt and drift in the direction of the inner solar system. These icy rocks become comets as they form long tails of ice and dust when moving towards our sun. ibid.
The human race has constantly endeavoured to extend its reach, and now it’s heading for the final frontier. From an outpost on the moon to a fully fledged colony on Mars. We’re building the rockets that will transport us there. And the machines we’ll need to survive. The Universe s2e13: Colonising Space
Chaotic and breathtaking. Their beauty forms from the emptiness of space. Wisps of matter. At times coming together, at others flying apart. Filmy, veiled, billowing masses, some dark, some glowing in brilliant colours, many taking the shapes of things that are eerily familiar. Neither stars nor planets, they are the crown jewels of the galaxy. The Universe s2e14: Nebulas
It is one of the most famous space photographs ever taken. As seen by the Hubble Space Telescope it shows the Pillars of Creation – massive columns of dust and gas seven light years long. ibid.
Many also have names inspired by their locations or shapes. ibid.