Dame Dr Maggie Aderin takes us on a voyage deep into space, on an astronomical search for extra-terrestrial life, celebrating 200 years of the Christmas Lectures.
Scientists this year detected the 'strongest hint yet' of biological activity outside our solar system in exoplanet K2-18b, sparking growing excitement about the real possibility of extra-terrestrial life… and in this series of lectures, Dame Dr Maggie Aderin is setting out on a journey to find it. In Lecture 1, self-confessed ‘Lunartic’, Maggie, begins by exploring our fascination with to our closest neighbour, the Moon.
In this lecture, Maggie continues her journey, this time in a search for life in the rest of our Solar System. From the ancient Greeks’ first observations of ‘planetai’, ‘wandering stars’ she’ll start by tracing the evolution in our understanding of the Solar System and how it came to be, before exploring its central powerhouse, the Sun.
In her final lecture, Maggie takes her audience beyond our solar system, deep into the Milky Way galaxy, and yet further out into the Universe, where the chances of finding life out there somewhere, seem greater than ever before.
| Lucy Haken | Series Producer |
| Executive Producer | David Dugan |
| Director | David Coleman |
| Assistant Producer | Cecilia Orr |
| Researchers | Calum Wincott , Sinead Reynolds |
| Junior Production Manager | Joely Kiggins |
| Production Manager | Felicity Chapple |
| Production Executive | Anna Cowdry |
| Editors | Todd Dalton , Rob Blake |