Understanding the universe: an introduction to astronomy

Part 1: Disc 1. Lecture 1 A grand tour of the cosmos ; Lecture 2 The rainbow connection ; Lecture 3 Sunrise, sunset ; Lecture 4 Bright objects in the night sky ; Lecture 5 Fainter phenomena in the night sky ; Lecture 6 Our sky through binoculars and telescopes --

Disc 2. Lecture 7 The celestial sphere ; Lecture 8 The reason for the seasons ; Lecture 9 Lunar phases and eerie lunar eclipses ; Lecture 10 Glorious total solar eclipses ; Lecture 11 More eclipse tales ; Lecture 12 Early studies of the solar system.

Part 2: Disc 3. Lecture 13 The geocentric universe ; Lecture 14 Galileo and the Copernican revolution ; Lecture 15 Refinements to the heliocentric model ; Lecture 16 On the shoulders of giants ; Lecture 17 Surveying space and time ; Lecture 18 Scale models of the universe --

Disc 4. Lecture 19 Light: The supreme informant ; Lecture 20 The wave-particle duality of light ; Lecture 21 The colors of stars ; Lecture 22 The fingerprints of atoms ; Lecture 23 Modern telescopes ; Lecture 24 A better set of eyes.

Part 3: Disc 5. Lecture 25 Our sun, the nearest star ; Lecture 26 The Earth, third rock from the sun ; Lecture 27 Our moon, Earth's nearest neighbor ; Lecture 28 Mercury and Venus ; Lecture 29 Of Mars and Martians ; Lecture 30 Jupiter and its amazing moons --

Disc 6. Lecture 31 Magnificent Saturn ; Lecture 32 Uranus and Neptune, the small giants ; Lecture 33 Pluto and its cousins ; Lecture 34 Asteroids and dwarf planets ; Lecture 35 Comets: Gorgeous primordial snowballs ; Lecture 36 Catastrophic collisions.

Part 4: Disc 7. Lecture 37 The formation of planetary systems ; Lecture 38 The quest for other planetary systems ; Lecture 39 Extra-solar planets galore ; Lecture 40 Life beyond the Earth ; Lecture 41 The search for extraterrestrials ; Lecture 42 Special relativity and interstellar travel --

Disc 8. Lecture 43 Stars: Distant suns ; Lecture 44 The intrinsic brightnesses of stars ; Lecture 45 The diverse sizes of stars ; Lecture 46 Binary stars and stellar masses ; Lecture 47 Star clusters, ages, and remote distances ; Lecture 48 How stars shine: Nature's nuclear reactors.

Part 5: Disc 9. Lecture 49 Solar neutrinos: Probes of the sun's core ; Lecture 50 Brown dwarfs and free-floating planets ; Lecture 51 Our sun's brilliant future ; Lecture 52 White dwarfs and nova eruptions ; Lecture 53 Exploding stars: Celestial fireworks! ; Lecture 54 White dwarf supernovae: Stealing to explode --

Disc 10. Lecture 55 Core-collapse supernovae: Gravity wins ; Lecture 56 The brightest supernova in nearly 400 years ; Lecture 57 The corpses of massive stars ; Lecture 58 Einstein's general theory of relativity ; Lecture 59 Warping of space and time ; Lecture 60 Black holes: Abandon hope, ye who enter.

Part 6: Disc 11. Lecture 61 The quest for black holes ; Lecture 62 Imagining the journey to a black hole ; Lecture 63 Wormholes: Gateways to other universes? ; Lecture 64 Quantum physics and black-hole evaporation ; Lecture 65 Enigmatic gamma-ray bursts ; Lecture 66 Birth cries of black holes --

Disc 12. Lecture 67 Our home: The Milky Way galaxy ; Lecture 68 Structure of the Milky Way galaxy ; Lecture 69 Other galaxies: "Island universes" ; Lecture 70 The dark side of matter ; Lecture 71 Cosmology: The really big picture ; Lecture 72 Expansion of the universe and the big bang.

Part 7: Disc 13. Lecture 73 Searching for distant galaxies ; 74 The evolution of galaxies ; Lecture 75 Active galaxies and quasars ; Lecture 76 Cosmic powerhouses of the distant past ; Lecture 77 Supermassive black holes ; Lecture 78 Feeding the monster --

Disc 14. Lecture 79 The paradox of the dark night sky ; Lecture 80 The age of the universe ; Lecture 81 When geometry is destiny ; Lecture 82 The mass density of the universe ; Lecture 83 Einstein's biggest blunder? ; Lecture 84 The afterglow of the big bang.

Part 8: Disc 15. Lecture 85 Ripples in the cosmic background radiation ; Lecture 86 The stuff of the cosmos ; Lecture 87 Dark energy: Quantum fluctuations? ; Lecture 88 Dark energy: Quintessence? ; Lecture 89 Grand unification & theories of everything ; Lecture 90 Searching for hidden dimensions --

Disc 16. Lecture 91 The shape, size, and fate of the universe ; Lecture 92 In the beginning ; Lecture 93 The inflationary universe ; Lecture 94 The ultimate free lunch? ; Lecture 95 A universe of universes ; Lecture 96 Reflections on life and the cosmos.

Part 1. Lecture 1. A grand tour of the cosmos. Lecture 2. Journey through space and time. Lecture 3. Light

the supreme informant. Lecture 4. The fingerprints of atoms. Lecture 5. Tools of the trade. Lecture 6. Space telescopes and the celestial sphere. Lecture 7. Our sun

the nearest star. Lecture 8. Lunar phases and glorious eclipses.

Part 2. Lecture 9. The early history of astronomy. Lecture 10. The Copernican revolution. Lecture 11. On the shoulders of giants. Lecture 12. One small step

the Earth and Moon. Lecture 13. Paradise lost

Venus and Mars. Lecture 14. Planetary behemoths

Jupiter and Saturn. Lecture 15. Distant worlds and solar system debris. Lecture 16. Comets and catastrophic collisions.

Part 3. Lecture 17. Distant suns. Lecture 18. Social stars

binaries and clusters. Lecture 19. Nature's nuclear reactors. Lecture 20. The fate of our sun. Lecture 21. Exploding stars

celestial fireworks. Lecture 22. The corpses of massive stars. Lecture 23. Hearts of darkness. Lecture 24. The quest for black holes.

Part 4. Lecture 25. Starting at home

the Milky Way. Lecture 26. One giant leap

other galaxies. Lecture 27. The dark side of matter. Lecture 28. The birth and life of galaxies. Lecture 29. Quasars

cosmic powerhouses. Lecture 30. In the belly of the beast. Lecture 31. Are we alone? : the search begins. Lecture 32. Communicating with extraterrestrials

Part 5. Lecture 33. The expansion of the universe. Lecture 34. The age of the universe. Lecture 35. The geometry and fate of the universe. Lecture 36. Einstein's biggest blunder? Lecture 37. Echoes of the big bang. Lecture 38. In the beginning. Lecture 39. The ultimate free lunch? Lecture 40. A universe of universes.