Strip the Cosmos

STRIP THE COSMOS strips major planets, moons, black holes, stars and galaxies of their gas, force-fields, rocks and magma, layer by layer, act by act, to explore their hidden secrets and solve key mysteries surrounding the origins and destiny of the universe.

Genre: Documentary

Cast:Michelle Thaller , Phil Plait , Hakeem Oluseyi , Andres Williams , Grant Tremblay , Eric Loren , Mark Sykes , Richard Cotton , Michael Massimino , Laura Danly , Sylvester James Gates Jr. , Bashar Rizk , Peter H. Schultz , Pat Whipps , Massamiliano Vasile , Timothy Linn , Jess Johnson , Chat Hull

1Season 1

S1.E1 ∙ Secrets of the Black Hole

Wed, Nov 12, 2014

Black holes are nature's ultimate abyss, capable of swallowing up a star the size of our Sun in seconds. There are millions of them out there, too dark to see, but gobbling up everything that gets too close. More frightening still, there is one at the center of the Milky Way - our galactic home. But is there more to a black hole than just darkness? This film looks at these menaces in a new light, to discover that they are not only destroyers - they are vital anchors for the planets and stars in galaxies like our own. Stunning CGI animation strips away the event horizon and explores what happens past the point of no return.

2Season 1

S1.E2 ∙ Inside the Sun

Wed, Nov 19, 2014

The Sun is a nuclear inferno, its surface raging with violent eruptions. Huge plasma storms eject electromagnetic debris across the solar system, with up to 20 threatening Earth every day. Dark spots on the surface indicate that an eruption is brewing, but once we've seen them, the race is on - a giant solar storm could be heading straight for Earth. The US Air Force shows us how they keep the skies safe by warning astronauts and rerouting pilots to avoid blasts of radiation. But where does all the Sun's power come from? This film delves inside this gas goliath to explore the source of all Earth's energy. Every second, the Sun generates nine million times the USA's annual energy consumption. Sunning CGI animation peels off the boiling layers of the Sun to unlock the mysteries of this giant nuclear reactor.

3Season 1

S1.E3 ∙ Killer Asteroids

Wed, Nov 26, 2014

Asteroids are constantly threatening Earth, with thousands lurking too close to our planet for comfort. We travel to Arizona to meet the team who spend every night scanning the heavens for asteroids that could threaten earth, and reveal how scientists test an intense laser beam they hope could one day deflect an asteroid away from Earth. But is there more to these deadly space rocks than the next Armageddon? At NASA we see astronauts train in weightless conditions for the first manned mission to an asteroid, and discover how asteroids could become cosmic gas stations to refuel rockets on mission into deep space.

4Season 1

S1.E4 ∙ Expedition Mars

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

Mars has been a tough training ground, with half the missions sent there ending in failure. Swirling dust storms, deadly radiation, and arctic temperatures await the first, pioneering, astronauts. Despite the dangers, space agencies around the world race to launch the first human mission. So why explore this seemingly cold, barren wasteland? Mars was once a lot like earth. This film visits ancient riverbeds, polar ice caps, and giant volcanic regions, to find out what went wrong for this alien planet. Stunning CGI animation will sweep up Martian dust storms, dive inside lava tubes, and tear back layers of rock to find signs of life on Mars. This film unravels the mysteries surrounding this Earth-like world, revealing that the only way we will truly understand this planet's paradise past is to go there and explore it ourselves.

5Season 1

S1.E5 ∙ Alien Worlds

Wed, Dec 10, 2014

Alien worlds are out there. Astronomers now think almost every star has planets orbiting around it, creating billions of different environments in deep space. Weird bacteria exist in the most extreme places on Earth, there's no reason why life shouldn't thrive elsewhere. How will we find life elsewhere in the universe? Diving into the deepest depths of our galaxy in search of the places life could be hiding. Stunning CGI animation cracks open frozen moons blasting ice into space, reveals hidden oceans, and unveils the bizarre worlds where mountains are made of diamonds and volcanoes erupt with water. This film unnlocks the secrets of the universe's most alien landscapes, and reveals just how close we are to discovering that we are not alone.

6Season 1

S1.E6 ∙ Hunting a Comet

Wed, Dec 17, 2014

Comets appear from nowhere and then blaze across the sky in a magnificent display of cosmic fireworks before disappearing into the darkness. This film reveals our extraordinary relationship with comets, exploring how these icy dirt balls may actually hold the key to all life on Earth. Stunning CGI animation tears open the comet to reveal the secrets locked inside its nucleus. We travel back in time to witness the early earth and the storm of meteor impacts that could have brought the water to its oceans. While they may pose a threat to life on earth, Comets could also be the reason that we are here at all.

1Season 2

S2.E1 ∙ Supermassive Black Holes

Wed, Mar 22, 2017

We strip apart black holes, one of the most feared objects in the universe, and tear off swirling galaxies of stars, planets, and cosmic dust layer by layer to explore the secrets of these hungry menaces lurking right on our cosmic doorstep.

2Season 2

S2.E2 ∙ Extreme Stars

Wed, Mar 29, 2017

We strip apart the Sun and tear off boiling seas of plasma, light particles, and force fields layer by layer to explore the secrets that lie beneath the surface of Earth's powerhouse.

3Season 2

S2.E3 ∙ Hunt for the Big Bang

Wed, Apr 5, 2017

We strip apart asteroids and peel back surfaces, slice open craters, and exploding out rocks layer by layer to explore these miniature worlds and the secrets of the early solar system.

4Season 2

S2.E4 ∙ Jupiter: The Sun's Secret Twin

Wed, Apr 12, 2017

Jupiter is a planet of extremes. Twice the size of all the other planets in our solar system combined it's formed almost entirely from Hydrogen just like the sun. Yet little is known about this super sized world. Now NASA have launched a billion dollar space mission called JUNO to explore Jupiter's long-held secrets. We join JUNO scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to unlock the mystery of intense radiation belts around the planet. In New York a dramatic experiment with molten rock reveals what could be supercharging this deadly radiation. Conditions in space around Jupiter are extreme - but delving into the planets mysterious clouds exposes an even more dangerous and violent world. Stunning CGI animation will rip open the planets gassy surface to uncover an astonishing phenomenon - a rainstorm of solid diamonds. A wonder that sounds impossible - but that scientists in Wales think they can recreate on earth. Alongside churning cyclones that rage for centuries and pressures so extreme they crush hydrogen gas into a metal this journey to unpack Jupiter's riddles reveals a planet of unimaginable ferocity. It's a planet so bizarre that some scientists now think it almost became a star - our sun's secret twin.

5Season 2

S2.E5 ∙ Mystery of the Hidden Universe

Wed, Apr 19, 2017

How much more is there to the Universe than meets the eye? In this episode, we join the scientists who hunt for our hidden cosmos. In New Mexico, radio astronomers probe the cold and seemingly empty void of space to uncover vast clouds of hidden matter called intergalactic plasma. But astronomers now realize that our universe has a 'dark side' - a second kind of matter and a mysterious 'energy' that together make up most of the universe. We join teams in the UK, Italy and the United States hunting for so called dark matter and dark energy. We go behind the scenes at the European Space Agency's EUCLID mission; venture underground to see a dark matter detector beneath the Gran Sasso mountain; and visit the construction of a powerful new telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona. At Green Bank, USA we meet the scientist who ask the most intriguing question of all - is our universe just one of many...and is proof that this multiverse exists now within our grasp? Stunning CGI animation will tie together clues and unravel the mysterious secrets of the hidden side to our universe.

6Season 2

S2.E6 ∙ Solar System: Hunt for the Missing Planet

Wed, Apr 26, 2017

The solar system and its planets seem like a familiar place. Yet scientists now think they've detected something huge lurking in the far reaches of the system we call home. Could it be that a missing, giant ninth planet orbits our sun in the dark reaches of space? We'll meet the astronomers hunting for this hypothetical world. Scientists who are only now beginning to understand how such a massive planet could have ended up so far away from the Sun - way beyond where science predicts planets can form. We join teams in the UK, Germany and the United States who are unlocking the ancient secrets of our planets' past. Only a revolution in our understanding of the Solar System's formation - and a re-assessment of Jupiter's early history - can reveal how Planet 9 was born. Stunning CGI animation will explore the origin or our solar system while dramatic experiments that recreate the micro gravity of space will reveal the secret to the earliest moments of our planets' formation.

1Season 3

S3.E1 ∙ Mystery of the Alien Asteroid

Mon, Oct 22, 2018

Scientists have spotted a mysterious object the size and shape of a skyscraper hurtling through space.

2Season 3

S3.E2 ∙ Hunt for the Missing Black Holes

Mon, Oct 29, 2018

CGI reveals our Universe might be teaming with mysterious 'seed' black holes.

3Season 3

S3.E3 ∙ The Moon's Dark Secret

Mon, Nov 5, 2018

A story of planetary collisions, volcanoes spewing lunar lava, and a vicious act of celestial cannibalism.

4Season 3

S3.E4 ∙ Inside Saturn's Rings

Mon, Nov 12, 2018

Scientists search for answers and discover incredible truths, including the presence of a giant unseen 'dark-ring'.

5Season 3

S3.E5 ∙ Secret History of the Solar System

Mon, Nov 19, 2018

New evidence is forcing scientists to rethink the story of our cosmic roots.

6Season 3

S3.E6 ∙ Inside Mega Space Storms

Mon, Nov 26, 2018

Stunning CGI reveals how this epic weather is now uncovering the inner workings of these mysterious giant planets.

7Season 3

S3.E7 ∙ Secrets of the Alien Megastructure

Mon, Dec 3, 2018

Have we stumbled upon an extraterrestrial civilization doing some serious construction work?

8Season 3

S3.E8 ∙ Hunt for the Missing Moons

Mon, Dec 10, 2018

Earth-like moons with oceans and mountains that could be home to advanced alien life.

9Season 3

S3.E9 ∙ Pluto's Strange Secrets Revealed

Mon, Dec 17, 2018

Scientists race to uncover Pluto's weirdest secrets and they're finding answers.

10Season 3

S3.E10 ∙ Hunting the Holographic Universe

Mon, Dec 24, 2018

An elite group of physicists have reached as astonishing conclusion: that the universe is a hologram.

1Season 4

S4.E1 ∙ Mission to Mars

Wed, Oct 28, 2020

Was there ever life on Mars? The Perseverance Rover project will attempt to answer that question amongst others.

2Season 4

S4.E2 ∙ Hunting White Holes

Wed, Oct 28, 2020

Scientist have long theorised the existence of black holes, proof in the form of a picture has eluded them, until now. Now they believe that white holes may also exist, and the hunt is on for proof.

3Season 4

S4.E3 ∙ Mystery of the Milky Way

Wed, Nov 4, 2020

In 2015 scientists report that the light coming from the Milky Way has dropped by around 50 percent in the last two billion years. Now scientists and astronomers are trying to find out why this should be happening.

4Season 4

S4.E4 ∙ Jupiter: Secrets of the Solar System

Wed, Nov 4, 2020

Jupiter is the most extreme planet in our Solar System, monster magnetic fields and monster storms abound. Now NASA's Juno probe is providing scientists with new and astonishing information as to why it is so dangerous.

5Season 4

S4.E5 ∙ Secrets of the Asteroids

Wed, Nov 11, 2020

Scientists use NASA's pioneering Osiris REx mission to intercept and sample the space rock, Bennu. The rock sample that Osiris REx returns to Earth may help scientists both defeat killer asteroids, and find the origins of life on Earth.

6Season 4

S4.E6 ∙ Inside Space's Great Wall

Wed, Nov 11, 2020

In 2016, astronomers discover a megastructure one billion light years long, which they have named The Great Wall. They are now trying to decode what formed this wonder, and how it will effect the future.

7Season 4

S4.E7 ∙ Mystery of the Dead Planets

Wed, Nov 18, 2020

This episode reveals the raw destructive power of our galaxy

8Season 4

S4.E8 ∙ Mystery of the Giant Ice Planets

Wed, Nov 18, 2020

New experiments and next generation telescopes are finally revealing what makes these planets so strange