Universe

Unplugged

The Universe Unplugged video series presents exciting astronomical science in playful ways.

Featured Episodes

NASA's Astrophoto Challenge | Summer 2023 | Introduction Video

This video introduces the "Phantom Galaxy," or Messier 74, as NASA's Astrophoto Challenge for the summer of 2023. Learn how you can make your very own astronomical image using data from space telescopes, or to request your very own observations from a robotic ground-based telescope!

You can use your own telescope or telescopes you control over the internet to help the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) study exoplanets. Through NASA's Exoplanet Watch program, your observations can help determine the exact times that an exoplanet will be crossing in front of its star giving the right window of time for JWST to observe it. Join astronomer Dr. Rob Zellem as he describes how helping study planets around other stars is at your fingertips!

Ask the Astronomers Live | 24 Episodes

Monthly live chats with real astronomers give you the chance to ask questions and find out what makes the universe tick.

What happened to make the star Eta Carinae become the second brightest star in the sky in 1843? Why did it then dim over the next century and once again brighten? How can YOU take images of this star and its surrounding clouds using NASA’s robotic telescopes or create your own images using NASA data? Join us to hear the fascinating story of Eta Carina and how NASA’s Astrophoto Challenges gives you the opportunity to make a picture of this star and its surroundings.

Thirty years ago we knew of no planets orbiting other stars. In the rest of the 90s with discoveries of the first exoplanets (planets orbiting around OTHER stars) the numbers began to grow slowly. Finally in the past 10 years the numbers of exoplanets have increased rapidly and we have just passed the 5000th confirmed known exoplanet! Join us for a chat with exoplanet scientist Dr. Jessie Christiansen about how we have managed to discover so many planets around other stars and what the future holds for this exciting area of astrophysics.

Astrophysics Variety Hour | 15 Episodes

How do astronomers find planets beyond our solar system...without even seeing them? Join host Felicia Day on a lighthearted channel-surfing romp that explores where planets and people came from, and how we are finding worlds orbiting distant stars.

How do astronomers find planets beyond our solar system... without even seeing them? Join host Felicia Day on a lighthearted channel-surfing romp that explores where planets and people came from, and how we are finding worlds orbiting distant stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

What are people, planets, and stars made of? FELICIA DAY EXPLAINS SCIENCE (part 1)

The host of a science show (Felicia Day) explains some of the science behind exoplanets to a floating Drone-bot and a holographic viewer. Explanations include how star systems formed, what the Earth was made from, and the variety of exoplanets that have been detected in our galaxy.

What are people REALLY made of? QUESTION BOARD (part 2)

A trio of hapless contestants attempt to compete on an astronomy quiz show, and learn what people—along with planets, the Sun, and all other stars—are made of.

AstroViz | 4 Episodes

Explore some of the most amazing places in the universe through amazing 3D animations based on real observations and scientific analysis.

Eta Carinae: The Great Eruption of a Massive Star

This visualization showcases the 3D structure of a remarkable nebula created around a massive star known as Eta Carinae.

Looking Out into Space, Looking Back into Time - AstroViz

This six-minute visual exploration of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field showcases its four-dimensional nature across both space and time.

A 3D Flight through the Orion Nebula - AstroViz

This visualization explores the Orion Nebula using both visible and infrared light as we fly through its structures.

NASA's Astrophoto Challenge | 7 Episodes

Try your hand at processing images from NASA's telescopes, or capture and process your own! The winter 2023 challenge is to create your own image of the Eagle Nebula/Pillars of Creation and includes data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.

Eagle Nebula – Understanding the Images | NASA's Astrophoto Challenge | Winter 2023

Join Marjorie Decleir, Alberto Noriega-Crespo, Paul Scowen, and Jesus Toala as they discuss the phenomenom of the Pillars of Creation and the surrounding Eagle Nebula.

Eagle Nebula – Introduction Video | NASA's Astrophoto Challenge | Winter 2023

This video introduces the NASA's Astrophoto Challenge for the winter of 2023, which feature images of the Pillars of Creation and the surrounding Eagle Nebula. Learn how you can make your very own astronomical image!

NSO Webinars | 5 Episodes

A collection of NSO Annual Content and Resources Webinars

NSO | SME Content Talk - Exoplanet Detection & Characterization | Rob Zellem

The Habitable Zone | 6 Episodes

Future explorers discover there are many factors a world needs to be hospitable for life, even if they are found in a star's "habitable zone."

Space explorers (actors from "The Expanse") are searching for a new hospitable world, aided by their computer with a Rod Serling complex (Parry Shen of "General Hospital").

The Habitable Zone: Scorched Earth Enigma

This new episode follows explorers (actors from “The Expanse”) into a planetary danger zone in their quest for another Earth. Can their computer (Parry Shen of “General Hospital”) save them from a nasty fate?

Goldilocks Paradox Unplugged: Behind the Sci-Fi (Part I)

Part 1 of a discussion between astronomers about the video Habitable Zone: Goldilocks Paradox. How can an exoplanet be at the right temperature but still not have liquid water? If we want to find an exoplanet that could host life like us, why does it matter what that planet is made of? Find out more about the science behind the search for a habitable exoplanet in the episode The Habitable Zone: Goldilocks Paradox.

Think Tank | 2 Episodes

Join Jerrika Hinton ("Grey's Anatomy") and Wil Wheaton ("Star Trek: TNG") on a visual journey on the beginnings and endings of stars.

Where do stars come from? A science expert (Jerrika Hinton) explains by hooking her hapless assistant (Wil Wheaton) up to a Thought Visualizer, a machine that allows anyone to see his thoughts. With Ed Wasser.

Why do some stars end their lives in a supernova explosion? And how does that lead to forming planets and life like us? A science expert (Jerrika Hinton) explains by hooking her hapless assistant (Wil Wheaton) up to a Thought Visualizer, a machine that allows anyone to see his thoughts. With Ed Wasser.

Video Showcase | 1 Episodes

Find out more about astronomy and the spectrum of light.

NOTGLaDOS: Electromagnetic Spectrum The Musical

Are microwaves really just a form of light? What exactly is the electromagnetic spectrum? While our eyes can't see most of this spectrum, except for visible light, we have developed technologies such as giant radio dishes, infrared cameras, x-ray scanners, and ultraviolet satellites to peak into the "invisible" world around us.

Diaries of the Cosmos | 4 Episodes

How do we know what stars are made of? Who figured out what happens inside stars? How do we know Dark Matter exists? Delve into the “how”s of astronomical discovery, meet the people behind the science, and explore the universe yourself!

The episode title in white and cream sits on a blue background. To its right, a blue-grey hand opens up, seemingly holding a star. The star is a yellow spiky burr-like shape, inside a white circular blob, surrounded by yellow fuzz and multicolored mini-stars.

How do we know that the stars are made up of Hydrogen and Helium?

The episode title in white and cream sits on an indigo background. To its right, a blue-grey hand opens up, seemingly holding a star. The star is a yellow spiky burr-like shape, inside a white circular blob, surrounded by yellow fuzz and multicolored mini-stars.

Follow a NASA astrophysicist on her path to becoming a scientist.

The episode title in white and cream sits on a black background. To its right, a blue-grey hand opens up, seemingly holding a star. The star is a yellow spiky burr-like shape, inside a white circular blob, surrounded by yellow fuzz and multicolored mini-stars.

What can we find out about the universe by looking at Hydrogen today?

About Universe Unplugged

Explore the universe of astronomy with videos that entertain and inform! Universe Unplugged presents the science in both playful videos rooted in real astronomy and a monthly “Live Chat” with astronomers.

Live Chats – Check in regularly to find out when the next live chat will be hosted on Facebook and YouTube, then join in and ask your own questions! We feature a different topic every month, and the entire archive is available for any you missed.

Videos – The stories are fiction but the science is real! Featured celebrities (from shows like “Star Trek,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Expanse,” “General Hospital”) as they have fun flying around the universe or playing with strange technology, and learning something in the process.

Visualizations – Watch stunning visualizations of amazing nebulas and galaxies based on real NASA observations that have been turned into 3D spectacles.

Explore More – Each video is posted with a variety of additional resources useful for educators as well as viewers just wanting to learn more about the covered topics.

About Universe of Learning

Universe Unplugged is part of NASA’s Universe of Learning project. The goal is to create shows that appeal to a broad audience of lifelong learners of all ages, with a special focus on underserved communities in science.

Fictional astronauts exploring an exoplanet

Actor Wil Wheaton being recorded in front of green screen