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Secrets of the Sun

Friday, May 24, at 5 a.m. on VPT
Sunday, May 26, at 1 a.m. on VPT
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It contains 99.9 percent of all the matter in our solar system and sheds hot plasma at nearly a million miles an hour. The temperature at its core is a staggering 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. It convulses, it blazes, it sings. You know it as the sun. Scientists know it as one of the most amazing physics laboratories in the universe. Now, with the help of new spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes, scientists are seeing the Sun as they never have before and even re-creating what happens at the very center of the Sun in labs here on Earth. Their work will help us understand aspects of the sun that have puzzled scientists for decades. But more critically, it may help us predict and track solar storms that have the power to zap our power grid, shut down telecommunications, and ground global air travel for days, weeks, or even longer. Such storms have happened before-but never in the modern era of satellite communication. SECRETS OF THE SUN reveals a bright new dawn in our understanding of our nearest star-one that might help keep our planet from going dark.


  • Meteor Strike

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  • Australia's First 4 Billion Years: Monsters

  • Australia: Life Explodes

  • Australia's First 4 Billion Years: Awakening

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  • Ancient Computer

  • Earth from Space

  • Building Pharaoh's Chariot

  • Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby?

  • Rise of the Drones

  • Decoding Neanderthals

  • Doomsday Volcanoes

  • Inside the Megastorm

  • Ultimate Mars Challenge

  • Mystery of Easter Island

  • Secrets of the Viking Sword

  • Forensics on Trial

  • Why Ships Sink

  • Deadliest Tornadoes

  • Cracking Your Genetic Code

  • Separating Twins

  • Secrets of the Sun

  • Hunting the Elements

  • Ice Age Death Trap

  • Mystery of a Masterpiece

  • 3D Spies of WWII

  • Bombing Hitler's Dams

  • Deadliest Volcanoes

  • The Fabric of the Cosmos: Universe or Multiverse?

  • The Fabric of the Cosmos: Quantum Leap

  • The Fabric of the Cosmos: The Illusion of Time

  • The Fabric of the Cosmos: What Is Space?

  • Iceman Murder Mystery

  • Finding Life Beyond Earth

  • Engineering Ground Zero

  • Japan's Killer Quake

  • Power Surge

  • Venom: Nature's Killer

  • Crash of Flight 447

  • Smartest Machine on Earth

  • Making Stuff: Smarter

  • Making Stuff: Cleaner

  • Making Stuff: Smaller

  • Making Stuff: Stronger

  • Deadliest Earthquakes

  • Secrets Beneath the Ice

  • Quest for Solomon's Mines

  • Secrets of Stonehenge

  • Trapped in an Elevator

  • Emergency Mine Rescue

  • Building the Great Cathedrals

  • Hunting the Edge of Space: Part 2

  • Hunting the Edge of Space: Part 1

  • Mind Over Money

  • Extreme Cave Diving

  • Riddles of the Sphinx

  • What Darwin Never Knew

  • Lizard Kings

  • Becoming Human Part 3

  • Becoming Human Part 2

  • Becoming Human Part 1

  • Doctors' Diaries

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  • Extreme Ice

  • Rat Attack

  • The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies

  • Space Shuttle Disaster

  • Ape Genius

  • A Walk to Beautiful

  • Missing in MiG Alley

  • The Great Inca Rebellion

  • Becoming Human Full Series Preview

  • The Pluto Files

  • Mt. St. Helens: Back From the Dead

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