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The Best Episodes of The Universe

Every episode of The Universe ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Universe!

Binge this in 2d 18h•Peaking at 8.7/10

From the planets to the stars and out to the edge of the unknown, history and science collide in a wondrous yet deadly adventure through space and time.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Universe Season 1 Episode 14 - Beyond the Big Bang
    8.7/10(193 votes)

    S1:E14

    The universe began with a massive expansion, billions and billions of years ago, and it continues to expand with every passing second. The idea that the universe, and man's very existence, began with a "Big Bang" is no longer a topic of debate among most scientists--it is essentially taken as fact.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The Universe Season 9 Episode 4 - Alien Worlds
    8.5/10(35 votes)

    S9:E4

    The ancients believed that the universe consisted of countless worlds we could not see, and argued endlessly over the nature of these distant, invisible planets and whether they might be inhabited. Until recently many scientists thought we would never discover the truth, believing that extra-solar planets were simply too far, too small and too dim to detect. But new technologies have suddenly revealed thousands of distant planets, opening up the most exciting period in astronomy in decades. Some believe we're on the verge of answering the ancient question: are we alone in the universe?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Universe Season 1 Episode 9 - Alien Galaxies
    8.4/10(168 votes)

    S1:E9

    Our galaxy is one of hundreds of billions in the universe. View of universe through the Hubble telescope and go back almost all the way to the Big Bang.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The Universe Season 1 Episode 10 - Life and Death of a Star
    8.4/10(156 votes)

    S1:E10

    Ignited by the power of the atom, burning with light, heat and wrath, stars are anything but peaceful. They collide, devour each other, and explode in enormous supernovas--the biggest explosions in the Universe.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The Universe Season 1 Episode 8 - Saturn: Lord of the Rings
    8.2/10(162 votes)

    S1:E8

    Are the rings of Saturn a real celestial phenomenon or merely a cosmic Illusion? Technology allows the experts to get closer to the furthest planet visible to the naked eye. Old questions are answered and new ones arise. Does Saturn hold the key to Earth's weather and will one of its moons supply us with all the oil we'll ever need?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The Universe Season 7 Episode 5 - Microscopic Universe
    8.2/10(65 votes)

    S7:E5

    An examination is conducted into the world of miniature particles, as microscopic objects like neutrinos MACHOs, WIMPs and many others may ultimately lead to understanding more about the mysteries surrounding the cosmos.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Universe

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  7. The Universe Season 1 Episode 2 - Mars: The Red Planet
    8.1/10(223 votes)

    S1:E2

    Visit the planet most like Earth. There is a discussion of what life on Mars would be like and about the life forms that could've evolved there.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The Universe Season 1 Episode 4 - Jupiter: The Giant Planet
    8.1/10(189 votes)

    S1:E4

    Jupiter poses many questions about our solar system. It is a powerful planet of gas whose flowing colors and spots are beautiful, but contain violent storms and jet streams. A mini solar system of over sixty moons rotate around Jupiter--a half billion miles from earth. Could one of these moons contain life under its icy crust?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The Universe Season 1 Episode 1 - Secrets of the Sun
    8.0/10(268 votes)

    S1:E1

    Behold the sun and all of it's glory. Learn all things about the sun ranging from its beginning to its death. Also learn about how stars work in general and MUCH MUCH more.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The Universe Season 4 Episode 10 - Pulsars & Quasars
    8.0/10(72 votes)

    S4:E10

    They sort of sound like the same phenomenon, but Pulsars and Quasars are very different. Pulsars are tiny--only a few miles across--but they spin as fast as a kitchen blender and sweep the sky with beacons of radiation that make them appear to flash on and off. They have unbelievably strong magnetic fields, are more accurate than atomic clocks...and they can even tell aliens just where to find the Earth! Quasars are at the other end of the spectrum. Quasars are huge cores of galaxies with black holes that are called "monsters" and which spit lobes of radiating gas called "DRAGNs." Quasars are so far away, we see them as they were only in the distant past--meaning they existed only in the early universe, when they may have played a major role in the creation of the galaxies themselves.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The Universe Season 1 Episode 3 - The End of the Earth: Deep Space Threats to our Planet
    7.9/10(203 votes)

    S1:E3

    Asteroids, comets, gamma ray bursts and the sun all combine to make the Earth a dangerous place to live. NASA's top brass and other scientists are arming themselves with the latest technology to pre-empt an apocalyptic attack. Watch and investigate bizarre, and terrifying apocalyptic scenarios and the ways that scientists are racing against the clock to develop technology to defend our planet.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Universe Season 1 Episode 5 - The Moon
    7.9/10(174 votes)

    S1:E5

    The moon has comforted man for thousands of years. It's been everything from a god to a compass, and the only cosmic body human beings have ever visited. NASA is planning to build a permanent outpost there. Discover how the moon came to be--if you don't already know, you will be astounded.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The Universe Season 1 Episode 7 - The Inner Planets: Mercury & Venus
    7.9/10(161 votes)

    S1:E7

    Examining Mercury and Venus. Included: exploring how the damages they've suffered from cosmic collisions and acid rain may serve as a warning for Earth.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Universe Season 1 Episode 11 - The Outer Planets
    7.9/10(146 votes)

    S1:E11

    This episode details outer lying planets and their moons. Included will be Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Using CGI, we will also see what alien life might look like on other worlds.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. The Universe Season 1 Episode 12 - The Most Dangerous Place in the Universe
    7.9/10(139 votes)

    S1:E12

    Take a tour of the cosmic hot zones--black holes, galaxy mergers, gamma ray bursts and magnetars. Super black holes can literally lasso Earth out of the solar system. A clash between two galaxies can result in a ritual called galactic cannibalism. Magnetars are a cosmic magnetic force so strong it could wipe out data on every credit card.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Universe Season 2 Episode 1 - Alien Planets
    7.9/10(135 votes)

    S2:E1

    Have planet hunters finally found proof of other Earthlike worlds? Astronomers have now discovered over two hundred alien worlds, beyond our solar system, that were unknown just a decade ago

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Universe Season 2 Episode 4 - The Milky Way
    7.8/10(116 votes)

    S2:E4

    We used to think that Earth was at the center of the universe, but now we know we're not even at the center of our own galaxy. Countless wonders exist between where earth is situated and the massive black hole at the galactic center of our solar system. Within the Milky Way can be found the debris of old, dying stars fueling the birth of new stars and at the galactic center hypervelocity stars get catapulted clear beyond the Milky Way's outer rim at unimaginable speeds. Come along for a guided tour of 100,000 light-year-wide family of stars and stellar phenomena we call The Milky Way.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Universe Season 2 Episode 5 - Alien Moons
    7.8/10(110 votes)

    S2:E5

    Travel from the inner solar system to the Kuiper Belt and explore the moons surrounding the planets of the solar system. Many of these moons that were once unknown are now on the cutting edge of astronomical study.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. The Universe Season 2 Episode 6 - Dark Matter
    7.8/10(119 votes)

    S2:E6

    Scientists have no idea what it is, but Dark Matter and Dark Energy make up 96% of the Universe. Dark Matter is everywhere. It passes through everything we know on earth at billions of particles every second, yet no one has ever gotten a direct detection of this mysterious dark substance. An even more bewildering force is Dark Energy, which is rapidly pushing apart our Universe. Discovered only ten years ago, scientists are struggling to comprehend its unusual characteristics and answer the ultimate question; what is the fate of our Universe?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The Universe Season 2 Episode 8 - Space Travel
    7.8/10(106 votes)

    S2:E8

    When man finally broke free of the Earth's gravitational pull the dream of traveling to other planets became a reality. Today scientists are proposing a bizarre array of technologies in the hope of traveling faster through space, from space craft sporting sails that catch laser beams, to propulsion engines powered by a bizarre entity known as anti-matter.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The Universe Season 2 Episode 18 - Cosmic Apocalypse
    7.8/10(90 votes)

    S2:E18

    The Universe as we know it is condemned to death. Space, matter and even time will one day cease to exist and there's nothing we can do about it. Harsh realities are revealed about the future of our Universe; it may collapse and burn or it might be gripped by a galactic ice age. Either of these scenarios might be a long way off. However, our Universe could suddenly be destroyed by a "random quantum fluctuation", a bubble of destruction that can obliterate the entire cosmos in the blink of an eye. No matter how it ends, life in our Universe is doomed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The Universe Season 3 Episode 3 - Light Speed
    7.8/10(91 votes)

    S3:E3

    According to the laws of physics we can never travel faster than the speed of light...or can we? Light speed allows us to see things instantly here on Earth, and shows us the entire history of the universe going back nearly 14 billion years. Learn all about light speed, the ultimate constant in the universe and discover ways scientists envision breaking the "light barrier" which may be the only way the star travel of our imaginations ever comes to reality.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. The Universe Season 4 Episode 5 - The Hunt for Ringed Planets
    7.8/10(67 votes)

    S4:E5

    They are breathtaking, lethal and a constant source of surprise. The stunning rings of Saturn have mesmerized countless scientists over the centuries. With particles the size of a house shooting at 53,000 miles per hour around the planet, any spacecraft passing through would meet an instant and catastrophic end. Inside the rings is like a NASCAR race - with bumping, jostling and frequent collisions that can cause a massive spin-out. Lesser known are the other planets that have rings - Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, possibly Pluto and Mars. Even Earth has a ring. Comprised of some 200 satellites in a geosynchronous orbit, it is the only known man-made ring in the universe. But the most remarkable thing about rings is that they contain the story of the birth of our solar system, and entire distant galaxies. Rings are more than a wonder of the universe - they reveal the secrets of our own origins.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The Universe Season 4 Episode 9 - Liquid Universe
    7.8/10(63 votes)

    S4:E9

    On alien planets, they rain from the sky as scalding iron. On distant moons, even at hundreds of degrees below zero, they slosh around in pristine lakes of methane. They can cover entire planets in miles-deep oceans of electrified hydrogen metal. Or erupt on alien worlds through miles-high geysers. They churn in the interiors of dead stars and even our own planet. They're so rare in the universe, they almost don't exist, but these are the magical liquids of our Liquid Universe.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The Universe Season 1 Episode 13 - Search for ET
    7.7/10(139 votes)

    S1:E13

    Are we alone? SETI--the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence--is a privately funded project using radio telescopes and optical telescopes to scan the stars for signals.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Beyond the Big Bang" is the best rated episode of "The Universe". It scored 8.7/10 based on 193 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/4/2007. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Alien Worlds".