Movies: Astronomy

Martinique Island, 1974. Inspired by the writings of the Martiniquais poet and politician Aimé Césaire (1913-2008), the dreamer Robert Saint-Rose, known as Zétwall (Star in Creole), aspires to be the first Frenchman to step on the lunar surface....

A biography of Nicholas Copernicus covering 50 years of the astronomer's life - from his studies in Europe to his theological work all the way to the creation of his magnum opus, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres....

Billions of years ago, Venus may have harbored life-giving habitats similar to those on the early Earth. Today, Earth's twin is a planet knocked upside down and turned inside out. Its burned-out surface is a global fossil of volcanic destruction, shr...

The people of the planet Aeon, blessed with six suns, have never experienced night. When an archeological excavation uncovers evidence of an ancient catastrophe, all signs point towards the impending darkness of the very first Nightfall. Panic erupts...

Man has always sought to seek further afield. After the seafaring explorers of the 16th century, 21st century cosmologists today navigate more celestial oceans, with each mission providing an ever-broader and more impressive cartography of our surrou...

What forms might life take in the Solar System and beyond? In the Academy's newest original planetarium show, see how a deeper understanding of Earth might help us locate other living worlds, light years away....

A team of international scientists attempt to document the first-ever image of a black hole....

A documentary chronicling the history of the telescope from the time of Galileo. Featuring interviews with leading scientists discussing Galileo's first use of the telescope to the latest discoveries in cosmology....

In an age when misinformation, alternative facts, and conspiracy theories have become mainstream, UFOs have risen to become one of the most-talked about pop culture phenomena. With all of this noise, how can we expect anyone to know how much of this ...

Blue Peter presenters Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood want to learn more about the solar system so they challenge scientists Helen Czerski and Jem Stansfield to find out more. They look at how to make telescopes and rockets, and use a toilet roll to...

Stunning slow-motion and timelapse cinematography of the landscapes, people and wildlife of the American South West....

To celebrate its 50th anniversary year, ESO in 2012 released the documentary Europe to the Stars — ESO's first 50 years of Exploring the Southern Sky. The movie tells the story of ESO — what scientific discoveries it has been making and how it design...

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Three billion miles away a grand-piano-sized spacecraft is speeding through the outer solar system at nearly 1,000 miles per minute. After nearly a decade in space, the New Horizons space probe will have just 86 seconds to complete its primary missio...

Chaco Canyon, located in northwest New Mexico, is perhaps the only site in the world constructed in an elaborate pattern that mirrors the yearly cycle of the sun and the 19-year cycle of the moon. How did an ancient civilization, with no known writte...

This documentary examines theories behind the creation of gamma ray bursts, destructive explosions in space that can wipe out entire star systems....

Four exceptional astronomers celebrate 50 years of work and friendship on a return road trip in the southwestern United States, recapturing youthful adventures and recounting each other's influences on the most exciting period in astronomy’s history....

BLACK SUNS: AN ASTROPHYSICS ADVENTURE is a documentary about chasing eclipses and science dreams. It chronicles the lives of two globetrotting African American astrophysicists, Dr. Alphonse Sterling and Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, as they follow the two sola...

Richard, an astronomy-obsessed worrier spends his time fantasizing about outer-space and the cosmos, an activity which antagonizes friends and family. One day, he meets Johnny, a handsome Italian man, with an enormous appetite for life, whose idea of...

China's FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) can detect radio signals emitted tens of thousands of light-years away, and engineers have faced unprecedented challenges in constructing a giant radio receptor nestled amid mountains. Fr...