Discovery Channel - How the Universe Works Series 2 (2012) Part 4 Megaflares - Cosmic Firestorms

How the Universe Works Series 2

The universe is made up of wondrous statistics that detail the incredible range between large and small, near and far, and light and dark – but what any of these inexact terms really describe is still open to debate. We are surrounded by laws that govern everything – determining the colour of the stars, the gravity controlling our solar system and the beginning and end of the universe itself.

Part 4: Megaflares - Cosmic Firestorms

The Universe is a magnetic minefield, with cosmic bombs detonating everywhere. Our own Sun regularly spits out lethal and spectacular flares, capable of battering our power and communications systems here on Earth, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Far out in space, spinning star systems crackle and explode, magnetic monsters rip worlds apart, star-quakes shoot out beams of devastating energy, and galactic flamethrowers fire gamma-rays half way across the Universe. Scientists are only now beginning to comprehend the true variety of the Universe's arsenal. As we uncover the most dangerous megaflares in the cosmos, the question is, will we find Earth in the firing line?

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