Episode 1
Empire of the Sun
Physicist Brian Cox examines the sun's rule over our planet, heading for India to witness a total solar eclipse, and viewing the Northern Lights in the Arctic Circle.
Where to watch Wonders of the Solar System
TV series
Wonders of the Solar System
2010TV-G1 season8.1 / 10
In this spellbinding series, Professor Brian Cox visits the most extreme locations on Earth to explain how the laws of physics carved natural wonders across the solar system.
Streaming, rental and purchase options
Where to watch in United States
Checked Jul 22, 2026
Wonders of the Solar System is available to stream on Pluto TV in United States. You can also rent or buy it from Google Play, Amazon, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.
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Synopsis
In this spellbinding series, Professor Brian Cox visits the most extreme locations on Earth to explain how the laws of physics carved natural wonders across the solar system.
Season 1 episodes
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 2
Order Out of Chaos
Brian reveals how the beauty and order of the solar system was formed from a chaotic cloud of gas.
Where to watch Wonders of the Solar System
Episode 3
The Thin Blue Line
Brian reveals how something as flimsy as an atmosphere can create some of the most wondrous sights in the solar system. He takes a ride to the top of earth's atmosphere, and in the Namib desert, he tells how Mercury lost its atmosphere.
Where to watch Wonders of the Solar System
Episode 4
Dead or Alive
The worlds that surround our planet are all made of rock, but there the similarity ends. Some have a beating geological heart, others are frozen in time. Brian travels to the tallest mountain on earth, the volcano Mauna Kea on Hawaii, to show how something as basic as a planet's size can make the difference between life and death. Even on the summit of this volcano, Brian would stand in the shade of the tallest mountain in the solar system, an extinct volcano on Mars called Olympus Mons, which rises up 27 km. Yet the fifth wonder in the series isn't on a planet at all. It's on a tiny moon of Jupiter. The discoveries made on Io have been astonishing. This fragment of rock should be cold and dead, yet, with the volcanic landscape of eastern Ethiopia as a backdrop, Brian reveals why Io is home to extraordinary lakes of lava and giant volcanic plumes that erupt 500 km into the sky.
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Episode 5
Aliens
Professor Brian Cox visits some of the most stunning locations on earth to describe how the laws of nature have carved natural wonders across the solar system. Brian descends to the bottom of the Pacific in a submarine to witness the extraordinary life forms that survive in the cold, black waters. All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the solar system has followed the search for water. Soaring above the dramatic Scablands of the United States, Brian discovers how the same landscape has been found on Mars. And it was all carved out in a geological heartbeat by a monumental flood. Armed with a gas mask, Brian enters a cave in Mexico where bacteria breathe toxic gas and leak concentrated acid. Yet relatives of these creatures could be surviving in newly-discovered caves on Mars.
Where to watch Wonders of the Solar SystemEpisode information updated Jul 22, 2026
More about Wonders of the Solar System
Cast
Professor Brian CoxSelf - PresenterCredits
- Written by
- Paul Olding, Gideon Bradshaw, Chris Holt, Michael Lachmann
Production details
- Status
- Ended
- Series type
- Miniseries
- Episodes
- 5
- Original language
- English
Networks & production
BBC TwoUnited Kingdom
Science ChannelUnited States
BBCUnited Kingdom
Themes
miniseriesplanetsolar system
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