TV is the New Reading

The History Channel

explores ‘The Universe’

Jupiter is an occasional golden dot in the southern sky, and a source of static you can occasionally hear on your AM radio. Mars has a volcano on it the size of Missouri. And along with the most majestic ring formations witnessed anywhere in our solar system, Saturn has a storm on its north pole shaped like a near-perfect hexagon.

These are some of the discoveries included in a History Channel series called “The Universe,” which is a beautifully produced compilation of commentary from leading astronomers and scientists interspersed with amazing computer graphics and eye-popping actual footage taken from nearly 50 years of satellites, probes and interplanetary exploration.

The series divides its attention in logical ways – the Sun and Moon each got an installment, Mercury and Venus were combined which made sense because honestly, there’s just not that much to say about Mercury. Earth and Mars each got an installment, as did Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus and Neptune were combined with trans-Neptunian dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt like Pluto and the recently identified Eris, aptly named for the Greek goddess of discord.

The discovery of Eris is what ultimately called Pluto’s planetary status into question because, since telescopes were getting good enough to see at those distances, there is apparently lots of material hanging around at that orbit and in order for any of it to be considered a planet, it would have to coalesce and make one good one, clearing out its orbital path.

The series also focuses its attention beyond our solar system with installments on alien galaxies, the life cycles of stars and this past week, an exploration of the most dangerous places in the universe.

While informative, the series is incredibly accessible without talking down to its audience. A lot of material is presented in quick succession and is worth taping and experiencing again. Along with speculation about otherworldly conditions, scientists and camera crews travel to different landscapes on our own planet where such conditions are most closely approximated, relating these vast distances to our own experiences.

For instance, in the Mars installment, there was discussion of potential microbial life in the permafrost believed to be at the Martian poles, based in part on a fragment of Martian meteorite discovered at Earth’s South Pole and what appears to be fossilized bacteria and what appeared to be a recent flow of liquid on the Martian surface. Scientists dropped a camera beneath the ice at Earth’s South Pole and discovered vast colonies of bacteria which have developed undisturbed by higher life forms and which have clearly created their own structures for survival.

Others have even more ambitious goals. In the segment on Jupiter, a scientist expressed his interest in going ice fishing on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. He wanted to drop a camera beneath the surface to see what swims up to it and licks the lens. Producers said such a project – unmanned, of course – could become a reality within the next 20 years, which is pretty exciting.

Perhaps more importantly, however, each installment illustrates the absolute state of the art in space exploration, featuring a lot about what we know, our limits to knowing more and what science is doing to push those limits. It’s certainly one of the most interesting series on television and a welcome distraction from the teen dramas, crime procedurals and reality shows that all but take over the grid.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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