NOVA

Out in the solar system, the weather gets wacky – with globe-spanning dust storms, monsoons of liquid methane, and lightning 10 times stronger than here on Earth. Discover the forces driving the dramatic weather on neighboring planets and moons.

Discover the dramatic forces creating spectacular weather on neighboring planets and moons.

Solar System: Storm Worlds Preview

Solar System: Storm Worlds

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Across the solar system, wild storms are raging. From globe-spanning dust storms, to monsoons of liquid methane, to monstrous storms with lightning bolts ten times more energetic than anything on Earth – our solar system is full of weird and wonderful weather. Explore the forces that create the truly awesome and extreme conditions found on our neighboring planets and moons. (Premiered October 2, 2024)

Discover the dramatic forces creating spectacular weather on neighboring planets and moons.

Space & Flight

From a dwarf planet that looks like a deflated football, to a tiny moon with cliffs taller than Mt. Everest, to the spectacular rings of Saturn, discover how the effects of gravity produce the amazing variety of weird worlds in our solar system.

What are the weirdest worlds in our solar system, and how did they come to be?

Solar System: Strange Worlds Preview

Solar System: Strange Worlds

Across the solar system, wild storms are raging. From globe-spanning dust storms, to monsoons of liquid methane, to monstrous storms with lightning bolts ten times more energetic than anything on Earth – our solar system is full of weird and wonderful weather. Explore the forces that create the truly awesome and extreme conditions found on our neighboring planets and moons. Premiering October 9, 2024 at 9 pm on PBS.

Around our solar system, violent eruptions are shaping distant worlds. Discover the explosive forces that helped create some of the most dynamic worlds in our cosmic neighborhood – and what makes the volcanoes right here on Earth so special.

Discover the powerful volcanic eruptions that have shaped worlds across our solar system.

Solar System: Volcano Worlds Preview

Solar System: Volcano Worlds

All around our solar system, volcanoes are powerful shapers of worlds. Next door on Mars is Olympus Mons, a giant volcanic mountain more than twice the size of Mt. Everest. And closer to the Sun, thousands of volcanoes produce the toxic atmosphere that keeps Venus boiling. Then there’s Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active world in the entire solar system, and Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where clues in its watery eruptions hint at the possibility of life. Discover the explosive forces that molded each of these worlds – and what makes the volcanoes right here on Earth so special. Premiering October 16, 2024 at 9 pm on PBS.

Discover the powerful volcanic eruptions that have shaped worlds across our solar system.

Out in the solar system, ice can get bizarre. Visit strange, frozen worlds – from Uranus’s ultra-hot superionic ice, to glaciers of nitrogen ice on Pluto, to carbon dioxide snow on Mars – and discover why the ice here on Earth is so unique.

Visit strange, frozen worlds to discover the bizarre ice that forms beyond Earth.

Solar System: Icy Worlds

Ice might seem familiar to us on Earth, but out in the solar system, it can get quite exotic. From Uranus’s ultra hot superionic ice, to glaciers of nitrogen ice on Pluto, to carbon dioxide snow on Mars, ice is a fundamental building block throughout our cosmic neighborhood. Visit some of the strange, frozen worlds of our solar system to discover why the ice here on Earth so special – and why we wouldn’t be here without it. Premiering October 23, 2024 at 9 pm on PBS.

Visit strange, frozen worlds to discover the bizarre ice that forms beyond Earth.

From meteorites that impact Earth, to a moon that orbits backwards, to an imposter lurking in the asteroid belt, a variety of strange, wandering worlds are rewriting what we know – and even how we think about – our solar system.

Meet the surprising, oddball worlds moving around our solar system.

Solar System: Wandering Worlds

Colorful lights above a rocky planet surface

The classic view of our solar system contains eight orderly planets, some with moons in neat orbits – but when we look closer, we discover a bunch of stuff missing from this simple, clockwork model. Wandering worlds that seem out of place, found in the gaps between and beyond the planets, offer clues that our cosmic neighborhood is far more dynamic than we once thought. From the meteorites that impact Earth, to a moon that orbits backwards, to an imposter lurking in the asteroid belt, these wandering worlds are rewriting what we know – and even how we think about – our solar system. Premiering October 30 at 9 pm on PBS.

Meet the surprising, oddball worlds moving around our solar system.

Icy mountain planet with large moons and planets in the distance

All across the solar system, volcanoes are erupting, storms are raging, and ice is acting in strange ways. And surprises like these aren’t limited to planets: Our solar system is home to a myriad of fascinating smaller bodies, including moons, asteroids, and comets. In recent decades, space missions have brought these neighboring worlds into sharp focus. Now, using the latest scientific imagery and stunningly realistic animations, planetary scientists take us on a journey across the solar system to uncover new revelations about our celestial neighborhood – and illuminate how Earth may be the oddest world of all. A five-part series premiering October 2, 2024 at 9 pm on PBS.

New discoveries and stunning animations reveal the bizarre worlds in our cosmic neighborhood.

New discoveries and stunning animations reveal the bizarre worlds in our cosmic neighborhood.

Solar System

US & Territories

United States

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

American Samoa

Guam

U.S. Virgin Islands

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications of these dramatic developments in the Arctic? Scientists and local communities alike are struggling to grasp the scale of the methane threat and what it means for our climate future. (Premiered February 2, 2022)

In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate.

Arctic Sinkholes

The top half of Jupiter in blue and green against a night sky

A composite image of Jupiter using images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

Explore the cosmos, delve into ancient history, and follow an extreme rescue with NOVA’s most-watched documentaries released in 2022.

NOVA’s most popular science documentaries of 2022

Four bright orange loops brand off of a dark blue blob

A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

Scientists have cured a handful of people of HIV by piggybacking on treatments they received for blood cancer. But does that bring a widespread cure any closer?

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Solar System: Strange Worlds