The BEST episodes of How the Universe Works
Every episode of How the Universe Works ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of How the Universe Works!
A users' guide to the cosmos, from the Big Bang to galaxies, stars, planets and moons: where did it all come from and how does it all fit together? A primer for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered.
#1 - Galaxies
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/10/2010
Galaxies, home to stars, planets and us, come in all shapes and sizes. Witnesses the evolution of galaxies; from clouds of cold gas floating in the voids of space 13 billion years ago, to the magnificent spirals that fill our night sky.
#3 - Secret History of Pluto
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/3/2017
Pluto is the subject, with an investigation into whether the planet has an underground ocean. The first close-up images of Pluto revealed unimaginable secrets of this mysterious frozen world. Now, scientists investigate if Pluto is home to a warm ocean of liquid water beneath its surface, and whether this underground ocean could harbour life.
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#4 - Secret History of the Moon
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/18/2015
Our Moon is stranger than you think, and we reveal its incredible secrets. Can we thank the Moon for life on Earth? What explains the mysterious tunnels beneath its surface? Is a lunar base the key to humanity's future in space?
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#5 - Big Bang
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/25/2010
This is the greatest story ever told, the creation of everything us. The programme investigates how the Universe came into existence out of nothing, and how it grew from a miniscule point, smaller than an atomic particle, to the vast cosmos we see today.
#6 - Birth of the Earth
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/29/2012
The Earth was formed by a series of cataclysms without which we would not exist. Could the same events have created other earth-like planets elsewhere in the Universe inhabited by creatures like us?
#9 - Journey to a Black Hole
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/24/2021
Journey to the heart of the M87 supermassive black hole, the first and only black hole ever photographed, and explore the mystery of how it grew so large, what lies inside, and how it controls the entire galaxy.
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#13 - Solar Systems
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/24/2010
Is our solar system unique? Since the first discovery of a planet orbiting another star, some 280 alien solar systems have been identified. It's only by looking at solar systems far beyond our own, that we can understand how remarkable our universe is.
#15 - Black Holes
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/2/2010
Black Holes,the most powerful destroyers in the Universe, the most mysterious phenomena in the heavens. For years they were only speculation, now modern astronomy is proving them frighteningly real and showing that they may well shape everything we see.
#16 - Asteroids: Worlds that Never Were
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/22/2012
From icy worlds with more fresh water than Earth to flying mountains of pure metal, asteroids shaped our past and promise much for the future. Could these enigmatic space rocks hold the key to how life in the Universe arises and is extinguished?
#17 - Nightmares of Neutron Stars
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/8/2019
Neutron stars are strange and violent phenomena that defy the laws of physics, and new discoveries reveal that these bizarre nightmares are far more deadly than we ever thought, with the power to destroy planets and even other stars.
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#19 - Moons
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/24/2010
Moons come in every possible shape and size. Home to incredible natural phenomena like gigantic geysers and colossal volcanoes, moons also offer perhaps the best chance of finding alien life in the Universe - and they probably exist in the billions.
#20 - Cassini's Final Secrets
Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/12/2019
For twenty years, NASA's Cassini spacecraft revealed the strange secrets of Saturn until it vaporized in its atmosphere in a blaze of glory. But today its legacy lives on, as fresh data from the probe helps scientists make brand-new discoveries.
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#21 - Life & Death on the Red Planet
Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/24/2017
The evolution of life on Mars before a series of cataclysmic events transformed the planet from a watery world to a hostile one; scientists believe life will find a way to continue despite the setbacks.
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#22 - Most Violent Event in the Universe
Season 11 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/19/2023
The collision of two supermassive black holes is the most violent event that can occur in the universe; experts explore where a black hole's energy originates and what really happens when the two most powerful objects in the cosmos clash.
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#23 - Did the Big Bang Really Happen?
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/12/2019
New discoveries are causing astronomers to question if the Big Bang really happened, and using the latest science, they investigate if it wasn't just the start of our universe but many mysterious multiverses.
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#24 - Edge of the Universe
Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/13/2020
We don't yet know where the edge of the universe is or what happens there; but thanks to cutting-edge technology and new discoveries, experts might finally reveal the secrets of the phenomena that can be found in deepest reaches of the cosmos.
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#25 - When NASA Met Jupiter
Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/6/2020
NASA's Juno spacecraft is part of a cutting-edge mission to explore the mysteries of Jupiter, and as this mighty probe is pummeled with deadly radiation, it gathers new data that could change everything we know about the solar system's biggest planet.
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