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.
You can now watch How the Universe Works online on the following streaming providers in the United States.
| Title | Air Date | Duration | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Episode 1 | Big Bang | 2010-04-25 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 2 | Black Holes | 2010-05-02 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 3 | Galaxies (aka Alien Galaxies) | 2010-05-10 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 4 | Extreme Stars | 2010-05-10 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 5 | Supernovas | 2010-05-17 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 6 | Planets (aka Extreme Planets) | 2010-05-17 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 7 | Solar Systems | 2010-05-24 | 60 min |
| Season 1 | Episode 8 | Moons (aka Alien Moons) | 2010-05-24 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 1 | Volcanoes - The Furnaces of Life | 2012-07-11 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 2 | Megastorms - The Winds of Creation | 2012-07-18 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 3 | Exoplanets - Planets from Hell | 2012-07-25 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 4 | Megaflares - Cosmic Firestorms | 2012-08-01 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 5 | Extreme Orbits - Clockwork and Creation | 2012-08-08 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 6 | Comets - Frozen Wanderers | 2012-08-15 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 7 | Asteroids - Worlds That Never Were | 2012-08-22 | 60 min |
| Season 2 | Episode 8 | Birth of the Earth | 2012-08-29 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 1 | Journey from the Center of the Sun | 2014-07-09 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 2 | The End of the Universe | 2014-07-16 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 3 | Jupiter: Destroyer or Savior? | 2014-07-23 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 4 | First Second of the Big Bang | 2014-07-30 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 5 | Is Saturn Alive? | 2014-08-06 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 6 | Weapons of Mass Extinction | 2014-08-13 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 7 | Did a Black Hole Build the Milky Way? | 2014-08-20 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 8 | Our Voyage to the Stars (aka Starman) | 2014-08-27 | 60 min |
| Season 3 | Episode 9 | The Search for a Second Earth | 2014-09-03 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 1 | How the Universe Built Your Car | 2015-07-14 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 2 | Earth: Venus's Evil Twin | 2015-07-21 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 3 | Monster Black Hole | 2015-07-28 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 4 | Edge of the Solar System | 2015-08-04 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 5 | Dawn of Life | 2015-08-11 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 6 | Secret History of the Moon | 2015-08-18 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 7 | The First Oceans | 2015-08-25 | 60 min |
| Season 4 | Episode 8 | Forces of Mass Construction (aka Magnetism) | 2015-09-01 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 1 | Mystery of Planet 9 | 2016-11-29 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 2 | Black Holes: The Secret Origin | 2016-12-06 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 3 | Secret History of Pluto | 2017-01-03 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 4 | Stars That Kill | 2017-01-10 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 5 | The Universe's Deadliest | 2017-01-17 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 6 | Life and Death on the Red Planet | 2017-01-24 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 7 | The Dark Matter Enigma | 2017-01-31 | 60 min |
| Season 5 | Episode 8 | Strangest Alien Worlds | 2017-02-07 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 1 | Are Black Holes Real? | 2018-01-09 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 2 | Twin Suns: The Alien Mysteries | 2018-01-16 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 3 | Dark History of the Solar System | 2018-01-23 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 4 | Death of the Milky Way | 2018-01-30 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 5 | Uranus & Neptune: Rise of the Ice Giants | 2018-02-06 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 6 | Secret History of Mercury | 2018-02-13 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 7 | The Quasar Enigma | 2018-02-20 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 8 | Strange Lives of Dwarf Planets | 2018-02-27 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 9 | War on Asteroids | 2018-03-06 | 60 min |
| Season 6 | Episode 10 | Mystery of Spacetime | 2018-03-13 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 1 | Nightmares of Neutron Stars | 2019-01-08 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 2 | When Supernovas Strike | 2019-01-15 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 3 | The Interstellar Mysteries | 2019-01-22 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 4 | How Black Holes Made Us | 2019-01-29 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 5 | Secret World of Nebulas | 2019-02-05 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 6 | Did the Big Bang Really Happen? | 2019-02-12 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 7 | Battle of the Dark Universe | 2019-02-19 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 8 | Hunt for Alien Life | 2019-02-26 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 9 | Finding the New Earth | 2019-03-05 | 60 min |
| Season 7 | Episode 10 | Cassini's Final Secrets | 2019-03-12 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 1 | Asteroid Apocalypse: The New Threat | 2020-01-02 | 120 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 2 | NASA's Journey to Mars | 2020-01-09 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 3 | Hunt for Alien Evidence | 2020-01-16 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 4 | Death of the Last Stars | 2020-01-23 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 5 | Secrets of Time Travel | 2020-01-30 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 6 | When NASA Met Jupiter | 2020-02-06 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 7 | Edge of the Universe | 2020-02-13 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 8 | Monsters of the Milky Way | 2020-02-20 | 60 min |
| Season 8 | Episode 9 | Earth's Death Orbit | 2020-02-27 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 1 | Journey to a Black Hole | 2021-03-24 | 120 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 2 | Mission to a Comet | 2021-03-31 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 3 | Secrets of the Sun | 2021-04-07 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 4 | Aliens of the Microcosmos | 2021-04-14 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 5 | Curse of the White Dwarf | 2021-04-21 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 6 | War of the Galaxies | 2021-04-28 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 7 | The Next Supernova | 2021-05-05 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 8 | Secret Lives of Neutrinos | 2021-05-12 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 9 | Birth of the Monster Black Holes | 2021-05-19 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 10 | Gravitational Waves Revealed | 2021-05-26 | 60 min |
| Season 9 | Episode 11 | Mystery of Alien Worlds | 2021-06-02 | 60 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 1 | Secrets of the Cosmic Web | 2022-03-06 | 60 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 2 | Curse of the Cosmic Rays | 2022-03-13 | 60 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 3 | Hunt for Dark Matter | 2022-03-20 | 60 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 4 | Dark History of Earth | 2022-03-27 | 60 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 5 | Hunt for the Universe's Origin | 2022-04-03 | 60 min |
| Season 10 | Episode 6 | Voyager's Ultimate Mission | 2022-04-10 | 60 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 1 | The Moons of Saturn | 2023-03-05 | 60 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 2 | A Robot's Guide to Mars | 2023-03-12 | 60 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 3 | Most Violent Event in the Universe | 2023-03-19 | 60 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 4 | Asteroid: Countdown to Catastrophe | 2023-03-26 | 60 min |
| Season 11 | Episode 5 | Solar System Special | 2023-04-02 | 120 min |
