The team goes behind the scenes at mission control for the critical point of the most ambitious space project of the decade. The European Space Agency's Rosetta probe finally catches up with the comet it has been chasing across the solar system for ten years and prepares to send out a lander armed with drills and harpoons for a daredevil attempt to hitch a ride. With the latest images revealing that it may even be two comets stuck together, Dr Chris Lintott is on hand in Germany with updates from the mission team on this unparalleled challenge, whilst Dr Maggie Aderin- Pocock reveals the instruments that the lander is carrying.

How to Catch a Comet

The Hunt for ET

The Brightest Star

The revamped team look at Jupiter's coloured bands and iconic 'eye', visible manifestations of a violent atmosphere that causes extraordinary weather.

Jupiter: Weather and Moons

The Sky at Night team listens to the sounds of the cosmos. Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Chris Lintott explore how sound can reveal extraordinary secrets about the universe - from orchestral tunes rippling on the surface of the sun and the crackle of Jupiter's atmosphere to the sound waves that reveal how the universe was formed. This is astronomy as you've never heard it before.

Sounds of the Universe

Mars captures the imagination like no other planet and currently our nearest neighbour is at its brightest for several years, so it's a perfect opportunity to explore a planet that is tantalisingly similar to our own. And in the past it may have been even more like Earth, an inviting and habitable place, a perfect environment for life to flourish. Geologist Iain Stewart investigates how we can read the story of Mars's extraordinary past from its rocks, Maggie Aderin-Pocock comes face to face with the latest Mars rover and Chris Lintott meets the man behind the discovery which the whole history of the universe now rests upon.

Mysterious Mars

The universe is filled with spectacular objects, from gloriously-coloured nebulae to the swirling motion of a billion stars formed into a single galaxy. One force has created it all - gravity. The Sky at Night team steps away from the bright lights and travels to the Brecon Beacons AstroCamp to see how gravity shapes the universe, in all its spectacular glory. Maggie Aderin-Pocock asks why so much of the night sky is filled with spheres and why not all these spheres are what they seem. Chris Lintott finds out about the newest moon in the solar system that has just formed in Saturn's rings, and how it could shed light on how the planets formed billions of years ago. Plus, how to get great images of the night sky without using a telescope and what the shape of a galaxy tells you about its past.

How Gravity Shapes the Universe

The team looks at the cosmic impacts which have shaped the universe around us, from asteroids crashing into the surface of the moon to galaxies colliding with each other.

Impacts

The team explore stargazing in the daytime, show how seasons change on other planets across the solar system and examine what makes the sun special.

Are we alone? Geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford seeks to define what life is and Maggie Aderin-Pocock explores our chances of finding it in the universe.

The vast frozen worlds of Uranus and Neptune are the most enigmatic and mysterious planets in the solar system. From the most powerful winds ever recorded to their exotic atmospheres, what makes these planets so unique? Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock reveal the latest images of the ice giants, while award-winning astro-photographer Damian Peach shares his tips for capturing these jewels of the night sky.

Ice Giants

It is one of the most extraordinary space adventures in a generation - to land a spacecraft on a comet.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft has been hurtling through space for over 10 years, tracking down a comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Now it is about to do something that has never been attempted before and land a spacecraft on the comet's surface.

This special episode of The Sky at Night puts the viewer right at the heart of the action, witnessing events as they happened from inside mission control. It reveals the latest images, explores the first groundbreaking science coming back from the comet and asks the astonishing questions that make this mission so captivating. Could Earth's water have come from comets? How do comets survive for so long? Could they have triggered the start of life on Earth?

The journey has been fraught with risk and at every stage the comet seems to surprise, but if the mission succeeds it will be a momentous day in the history of space exploration.

Rosetta: A Sky at Night Special

Perhaps no object in the night sky conjures up a greater sense of awe and wonder than a nebula. These vast clouds of dust and gases are stupendously beautiful, but they aren't just pretty objects. Nebulae play a key role in the birth and death of stars, and therefore in our own origins. And driving their creation is a kind of chemistry that the textbooks say shouldn't be happening.

The Pillars of Creation

Your monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy with the latest thinking on what's out there in space and what you can see in the night sky.

How to Catch a Comet

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Season 58 Episodes11

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