The Sky at Night S62E07 · Death Star

Overview

One evening in early September 1859, a spectacular blood-red aurora borealis appeared across America. Earlier that same day, in a leafy garden in the UK, a gentleman astronomer had noted a 'white light flare' on the sun's surface. The two events were linked; it's now known that the flare caused the aurora. The flare was a particularly violent eruption from the sun's surface known as a CME, a coronal mass ejection. Back then, it was considered an astronomical curiosity. But when it happens again, it will be a different story. For the modern, technological world such a violent solar phenomenon could be devastating. This episode examines just how damaging a CME could be and how astronomers, using two new satellites that will travel closer to the sun than ever before, can better prepare us for its impact.

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Episodes

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3. 3 3. Mars: Red and Dead?2018-04-08Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock reveal the latest results from NASA's Curiosity and ESA's ExoMars TGO missions that are attempting to find signs of life on Mars. Andy Weir,
4. 4 4. Gaia: A Galactic Revolution2018-05-13Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Chris Lintott examine the new information about the Milky Way recorded by the ESA's Gaia space telescope over the past three and a half years, including ne
5. 5 5. Jupiter: Up Close and Personal2018-06-10Nasa's Juno spacecraft is currently making its 13th orbit of Jupiter on one of the most ambitious and risky space missions ever undertaken. The astonishing images it has captured a
6. 6 6. Outback Astronomy2018-07-08Chris Lintott travels to the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Australia to find out how astronomers detected signals from the oldest stars in existence and what this discov
7. 7 7. Death Star2018-08-12One evening in early September 1859, a spectacular blood-red aurora borealis appeared across America. Earlier that same day, in a leafy garden in the UK, a gentleman astronomer had
8. 8 8. Expedition Asteroid2018-09-09A look at two missions attempting one of the most difficult feats of space exploration - to collect a rock from another world. This episode checks in on the US and Japanese attempt
9. 9 9. Space Britannia2018-10-14The future of Britain's space programme, examining plans for the first UK spaceport in Scotland and the development of a new rocket system. The programme also examines a revolution
10. 10 10. First Rock from the Sun2018-11-18A report on BepiColombo, a spacecraft sent on a seven-year journey to the heart of the solar system to study Mercury. The objective is to discover why the smallest planet in the so
11. 11 11. The Flying Telescope2018-12-09Chris Lintott visits an observatory aboard a jumbo jet, which carries an infra-red telescope able to observe space from the vantage point of 40,000 feet above sea level. Plus, a lo