Universe: Black Holes: Heart of Darkness
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Wednesday, July 1 on BBC Four (9)
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About this Broadcast
Black Holes: Heart of Darkness
Season 1, Episode 4
Professor Brian Cox continues his exploration of the universe with a journey into darkness. The centre of the galaxy is home to an invisible monster of unimaginable power - a supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A*. Weighing four million times the mass of the sun, it's an object with such an immense gravitational field that nothing can escape - not even light. For decades, black holes existed purely in the minds of theoretical physicists - the idea was so absurd, scientists thought they couldn't possibly exist in nature. But recent astronomical breakthroughs have confirmed not only that black holes like Sagittarius A* exist, but that these bizarre invisible objects may be the ultimate galactic protagonists
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audio-description
Education/Science/Factual Topics
General
Cast & Crew
Professor Brian Cox
(Presenter)
Gideon Bradshaw
(Executive producer)
Andrew Cohen
(Executive producer)
Tom Hewitson
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Professor Brian Cox
(Presenter)
Born:
March 03, 1968
in
Chadderton, Lancashire
Best Known For:
Making physics sexy.
Early-life:
Brian Edward Cox was born in Chadderton, Lancashire, on March 3, 1968. Both his parents were in banking - but later revealed he only got a grade D in his maths A level. He attended the fee-charging Hulme Grammar School in Oldham from 1979 to 1986. He studied physics at the University of Manchester where he joined D:Ream, a group which had several hits in the UK charts, including the number one, 'Things Can Only Get Better' - later used as a New Labour election anthem.
Career:
Cox obtained first class and MPhil degrees in physics from the University of Manchester. After D:Ream disbanded in 1997, Cox was awarded his PhD in high energy particle physics at Manchester University. As professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester, he became involved in working on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, and during media interviews, proved himself a natural in front of the camera. He was quickly snapped up by the BBC and has since become a huge star, presenting Wonders of the Universe and Wonders of the Solar System, among numerous other documentaries.
Quote:
'People say things like: 'He's quite good looking for a scientist'. But it's a very low bar. There's basically me and Patrick Moore.'
Trivia:
He is a highly respected physician and has also written and co-authored several books on physics.
Gideon Bradshaw
(Executive producer)
Andrew Cohen
(Executive producer)
Tom Hewitson
(Director)
