The Big Why: Space Edition

Discover the cosmic light show that transforms a giant rock into crescents, halves, and glowing spheres.

Investigate the science of 'stellar scintillation' and why the stars dance for us while planets stay still.

Unlock the secret of the rusty world and find out why even the Martian sky looks different than ours.

Explore the 'Silent Zone' of the universe and learn why space movies have been lying to you about explosions.

Solve the mystery of the beautiful rings around the gas giant and discover the 'dirty snowballs' that create them.

Step into the 'Event Horizon' and learn why these invisible giants are the strongest anchors in the universe.

Discover why these 'stars' aren't actually stars at all, but tiny space crumbs putting on a fiery show.

Solve the mystery of how heat travels through the freezing vacuum of space to warm our planet.

Investigate 'Olbers' Paradox'—the mystery of why the sky is dark even though there are trillions of stars in every direction.

Discover the solar system's most famous storm—a hurricane that has lasted for centuries and could swallow Earth whole.

Solve the mystery of why Venus is a scorching furnace even though Mercury is much closer to the Sun.

Learn why we have to add an extra day to our calendar every four years to keep our seasons in line.

Discover the hidden difference between 'Mass' and 'Weight' and why you’d be a superhero on the Moon.

Solve the mystery of Polaris, the stable star that has guided sailors and explorers for centuries.

Discover why the windiest planet in our solar system looks like a deep blue marble and how its atmosphere acts like a color filter.

Solve the mystery of why temperatures change throughout the year and debunk the myth of the Sun's distance.

Learn about the ring of 'space rubble' that never quite became a planet and why Jupiter is the 'bully' of the neighborhood.

Discover why the 'Red Planet' has blue sunsets and how Martian dust creates a beautiful mirror image of Earth's sky.

Investigate the lifecycle of our star and discover how it will transform from a yellow dwarf into a massive red giant.

Discover the cosmic balancing act that keeps satellites and space stations from falling back to Earth.

Follow charged particles from the Sun as they crash into Earth's atmosphere and paint the sky with glowing curtains of light.

Investigate the icy travelers of the solar system and the solar winds that blow their glowing tails across space.

Learn how astronomers detect invisible planets by watching stars wobble and dim.

Step back into the cosmic neighborhood and discover why our galaxy stretches across the night sky like a glowing band.

Explore the powerful physics needed to escape Earth's gravity and reach the vacuum of space.

Discover how engineers control vehicles millions of kilometers away using delayed signals from Earth.

Solve the mystery of why Earth's companion is airless while our planet holds onto its protective sky.

Investigate the explosive bursts of energy from the Sun that can affect satellites and power grids on Earth.

Explore the cosmic shields and lucky circumstances that help keep our planet safe from space rocks.

Discover how the size and mass of a planet determine how strongly it pulls on everything around it.

Explore the strange effects of relativity and how time itself can slow down in space.

Solve one of the universe’s biggest mysteries—an invisible substance that holds galaxies together.

Investigate the mysterious force pushing the universe to grow larger every second.

Follow the journey of a meteor from fiery streak to a rock that lands on Earth.

Travel back billions of years to the dusty disks where planets slowly grow around newborn stars.

Discover how temperature changes the color of stars across the universe.

Explore the dramatic deaths of massive stars and the powerful explosions that scatter elements across space.

Investigate the strange rotations of planets like Venus and Uranus.

Discover the distant region of icy worlds, dwarf planets, and comets at the edge of our solar system.

Learn why scientists launch telescopes above Earth's atmosphere to study the universe more clearly.

Step aboard a floating laboratory and discover how astronauts eat, sleep, and work in zero gravity.

Investigate the invisible particles that make deep-space travel risky for astronauts.

Follow the debate that changed the definition of a planet and reshaped our solar system.

Explore the conditions that allow some planets to wear spectacular rings while others remain bare.

Investigate the enormous distances between stars and the technologies scientists dream about.

Solve the mystery of how the spinning disk of our early solar system set everything moving the same way.

Explore the history of cosmic collisions that scarred the Moon's ancient surface.

Take a journey from Earth to the edge of the observable universe and grasp the mind-bending scale of space.

Investigate the explosive origin of space, time, and everything we see today.