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How the Universe Works poster

How the Universe Works (2010)

Documentary

A users' guide to the cosmos, from the Big Bang to galaxies, stars, planets and moons: where did it all come from and how does it all fit together? A primer for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered.

IMDb rating
8.9 (7,692 votes)
Seasons
11
Streaming (US)
HBO Max · Discovery+ Amazon Channel · Philo · Science Channel · Plex · Plex Channel
Language
EN
Type
TV series
Browse all Consistent seasons in the explorer → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Jul 3, 2026 · 11 seasons indexed

Seasons

Season 1 (2010)

8.21 avg 8 episodes 8.1 → 8.3 44 min avg

Ep 1: 8.1 · 270 votesEp 2: 8.3 · 242 votesEp 3: 8.3 · 205 votesEp 4: 8.3 · 203 votesEp 5: 8.2 · 172 votesEp 6: 8.2 · 160 votesEp 7: 8.0 · 164 votesEp 8: 8.3 · 165 votes
Season 1 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Big Bang8.1270
2Black Holes8.3242
3Galaxies8.3205
4Stars8.3203
5Supernovas8.2172
6Planets8.2160
7Solar Systems8.0164
8Moons8.3165

Season 2 (2012)

8.06 avg 8 episodes 7.8 → 8.4 44 min avg

Ep 1: 7.8 · 128 votesEp 2: 8.0 · 110 votesEp 3: 8.0 · 120 votesEp 4: 7.8 · 104 votesEp 5: 8.1 · 107 votesEp 6: 8.2 · 107 votesEp 7: 8.2 · 110 votesEp 8: 8.4 · 106 votes
Season 2 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Volcanoes7.8128
2Megastorms - The Winds of Creation8.0110
3Planets from Hell8.0120
4Megaflares - Cosmic Firestorms7.8104
5Extreme Orbits - Clockwork and Creation8.1107
6Comets - Frozen Wanderers8.2107
7Asteroids - Worlds That Never Were8.2110
8Birth of the Earth8.4106

Season 3 (2014)

8.46 avg 9 episodes 8.2 → 8.5 44 min avg

Ep 1: 8.2 · 144 votesEp 2: 8.7 · 142 votesEp 3: 8.5 · 132 votesEp 4: 8.4 · 129 votesEp 5: 8.5 · 113 votesEp 6: 8.4 · 112 votesEp 7: 8.4 · 104 votesEp 8: 8.5 · 118 votesEp 9: 8.5 · 119 votes
Season 3 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Journey from the Center of the Sun8.2144
2The End of the Universe8.7142
3Jupiter: Destroyer or Savior?8.5132
4First Second of the Big Bang8.4129
5Is Saturn Alive?8.5113
6Weapons of Mass Extinction8.4112
7Did a Black Hole Build the Milky Way?8.4104
8Our Voyage to the Stars8.5118
9The Search for a Second Earth8.5119

Season 4 (2015)

8.49 avg 8 episodes 8.1 → 8.5 44 min avg

Ep 1: 8.1 · 117 votesEp 2: 8.1 · 114 votesEp 3: 8.7 · 112 votesEp 4: 8.7 · 115 votesEp 5: 8.6 · 110 votesEp 6: 8.6 · 107 votesEp 7: 8.6 · 92 votesEp 8: 8.5 · 93 votes
Season 4 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1How the Universe Built Your Car8.1117
2Earth, Venus's Evil Twin8.1114
3Monster Black Hole8.7112
4Edge of the Solar System8.7115
5Dawn of Life8.6110
6Secret History of the Moon8.6107
7The First Oceans8.692
8Forces of Mass Construction8.593

Season 5 (2016)

8.40 avg 9 episodes 8.6 → 8.3 42 min avg

Ep 0: 8.6 · 45 votesEp 1: 8.5 · 104 votesEp 2: 8.4 · 94 votesEp 3: 8.5 · 83 votesEp 4: 8.4 · 76 votesEp 5: 8.4 · 80 votesEp 6: 8.3 · 83 votesEp 7: 8.2 · 81 votesEp 8: 8.3 · 82 votes
Season 5 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
0Most Amazing Discoveries8.645
1The Mystery of Planet 98.5104
2Black Holes: The Secret Origin8.494
3Secret History of Pluto8.583
4Stars That Kill8.476
5The Universe's Deadliest8.480
6Life and Death on the Red Planet8.383
7The Dark Matter Enigma8.281
8Strangest Alien Worlds8.382

Season 6 (2018)

8.56 avg 10 episodes 8.9 → 8.8 42 min avg

Ep 1: 8.9 · 86 votesEp 2: 8.4 · 78 votesEp 3: 8.5 · 80 votesEp 4: 8.2 · 76 votesEp 5: 8.5 · 86 votesEp 6: 8.4 · 82 votesEp 7: 8.7 · 79 votesEp 8: 8.7 · 72 votesEp 9: 8.5 · 65 votesEp 10: 8.8 · 83 votes
Season 6 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Are black holes real8.986
2Twin Suns: The Alien Mysteries8.478
3Dark History of the Solar System8.580
4Death of the Milky Way8.276
5Uranus & Neptune: Rise of the Ice Giants8.586
6Secret History of Mercury8.482
7The Quasar Enigma8.779
8Strange Lives of Dwarf Planets8.772
9War on Asteroids8.565
10Mystery of Spacetime8.883

Season 7 (2019)

8.55 avg 10 episodes 8.8 → 8.8 42 min avg

Ep 1: 8.8 · 93 votesEp 2: 8.8 · 82 votesEp 3: 8.5 · 78 votesEp 4: 8.3 · 78 votesEp 5: 8.3 · 71 votesEp 6: 8.6 · 80 votesEp 7: 8.4 · 77 votesEp 8: 8.4 · 73 votesEp 9: 8.6 · 70 votesEp 10: 8.8 · 78 votes
Season 7 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Nightmares of Neutron Stars8.893
2When Supernovas Strike8.882
3The Interstellar Mysteries8.578
4How Black Holes Made Us8.378
5Secret World of Nebulas8.371
6Did the Big Bang Really Happen?8.680
7Battle of the Dark Universe.8.477
8Hunt for Alien Life8.473
9Finding the New Earth8.670
10Cassini's Final Secrets8.878

Season 8 (2020)

8.69 avg 14 episodes 8.1 → 9.2 67 min avg

Ep 1: 8.1 · 76 votesEp 2: 8.0 · 68 votesEp 3: 8.1 · 69 votesEp 4: 8.6 · 66 votesEp 5: 8.6 · 74 votesEp 6: 8.6 · 61 votesEp 7: 8.9 · 89 votesEp 8: 8.7 · 66 votesEp 9: 8.6 · 62 votesEp 10: 9.0 · 27 votesEp 11: 9.4 · 28 votesEp 12: 9.0 · 25 votesEp 13: 8.8 · 21 votesEp 14: 9.2 · 20 votes
Season 8 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Asteroid Apocalypse: The New Threat8.176
2NASA's Journey to Mars8.068
3Hunt for Alien Evidence8.169
4Death of the Last Stars8.666
5Secrets of Time Travel8.674
6When NASA Met Jupiter8.661
7Edge of the Universe8.989
8Monsters of the Milky Way8.766
9Earth's Death Orbit8.662
10Pluto's Strangest Secrets9.027
11Mysteries of Alien Stars9.428
12Asteroid Apocalypse9.025
13Attack of the Asteroids8.821
14Forces of the Unknown9.220

Season 9 (2021)

8.46 avg 11 episodes 9.1 → 8.4 46 min avg

Ep 1: 9.1 · 79 votesEp 2: 8.5 · 59 votesEp 3: 8.6 · 60 votesEp 4: 7.9 · 61 votesEp 5: 8.4 · 57 votesEp 6: 8.4 · 56 votesEp 7: 8.5 · 56 votesEp 8: 8.5 · 58 votesEp 9: 8.2 · 53 votesEp 10: 8.6 · 61 votesEp 11: 8.4 · 55 votes
Season 9 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Journey to a Black Hole9.179
2Mission to a Comet8.559
3Secrets of the Sun8.660
4Aliens Of The Microcosmos7.961
5Curse of the White Dwarf8.457
6War of the Galaxies8.456
7The Next Supernova8.556
8Secret Lives of Neutrinos8.558
9Birth of the Monster Black Holes8.253
10Gravitational Waves Revealed8.661
11Mystery of Alien Worlds8.455

Season 10 (2022)

8.70 avg 6 episodes 8.7 → 8.9

Ep 1: 8.7 · 51 votesEp 2: 8.4 · 42 votesEp 3: 8.7 · 47 votesEp 4: 8.7 · 41 votesEp 5: 8.8 · 43 votesEp 6: 8.9 · 47 votes
Season 10 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Secrets of the Cosmic Web8.751
2Curse of the Cosmic Rays8.442
3Hunt for Dark Matter8.747
4Dark History of Earth8.741
5Hunt for the Universe's Origin8.843
6Voyager's Ultimate Mission8.947

Season 11 (2023)

8.16 avg 5 episodes 8.4 → 8.2

Ep 1: 8.4 · 46 votesEp 2: 8.6 · 40 votesEp 3: 8.0 · 44 votesEp 4: 7.6 · 36 votesEp 5: 8.2 · 36 votes
Season 11 episodes — IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1The Moons of Saturn8.446
2A Robot's Guide to Mars8.640
3The Most Violent Event in the Universe8.044
4Countdown to Catastrophe7.636
5Solar System Special8.236
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Episode ratings and vote counts from IMDb. Poster, overview, and streaming data from TMDB. Data refreshed 2026-07-03.

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