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The Forgotten Solar System

The Sky at Night team reveal how important it is to investigate our solar system's outer planets close up and why opportunities to do so only come around every so often.

Of the 100 probes that have been sent out into space, only one probe - Voyager 2 in 1989 - has ever sent back any information about the solar system's outer planets. From afar, they seem featureless and devoid of any significant geological activity.

Since then, long-range telescopes have shown that there is much more to Neptune and Uranus than previously thought and that they both warrant closer inspection. Time, however, is of the essence. Deep-space missions are dependent on Jupiter. The slingshot effect it provides to move probes along the way is only available to us every 25 years.

59 minutes

Last on

Wed 13 Oct 2021 00:05
麻豆社 Four

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham

    At The Castle Gate From Pelleas and Melisande (The Sky At Night) (1955)

Credits

Presenter Chris Lintott
Presenter Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Presenter Pete Lawrence
Production Coordinator Carisse Perks
Assistant Producer Raquel Taylor
Production Manager Kassi Murphy
Executive Producer Steve Crabtree
Series Producer Peter Leonard

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