STELLAR, A New Six Part Miniseries from PBS Digital Studios.
PBS
The Six Episode Miniseries Debuts on Facebook and YouTube Beginning June 20; Accompanies PBS.org Interactive Hub and Compelling, Space-Themed Content
ARLINGTON, VA; June 18, 2019 - PBS Digital Studios, dedicated to developing thought-proving programming for the curious minds of the Internet, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing with the launch of STELLAR, a six-episode space-themed miniseries on PBS's Facebook and YouTube pages. Beginning Thursday, June 20, STELLAR will feature three of PBS Digital Studios' most popular, space-loving hosts - Matt Dowd (SPACE TIME), Dianne Cowern (PHYSICS GIRL) and Joe Hanson (IT'S OKAY TO BE SMART) on location at space flight centers around the country highlighting current developments in space exploration, astronomy and astrophysics.
STELLAR is an evolution for PBS's original digital programming, it blends together the cinematic quality of broadcast science documentaries with the communal spirit of YouTube and Facebook, said Brandon Arolfo, Senior Director, PBS Digital Studios. We've brought together three of PBS' biggest science creators to help bring the universe to digital audiences and couldn't be more excited to share this great content in celebration of this momentous anniversary.
As part of the previously announced Summer of Space multiplatform experience, STELLAR will accompany more than 20 compelling space-themed offerings throughout the summer. New offerings from the PBS Digital Studios network include an episode on martians from MONSTRUM, a look at a space-themed art from ART ASSIGNMENT, an ORIGIN OF EVERYTHING episode that asks why did we plant a flag on the moon? and a video from AMERICA FROM SCRATCH that looks at whether or not we should colonize Mars.
In addition, a Summer of Space interactive hub is coming in July to pbs.org where viewers will be invited to submit videos, photographs, audio recordings and text entries sharing their love of space exploration and how they experienced the Apollo 11 mission. Educators, students and life-long learners will also find Summer of Space classroom-ready materials available on PBS LearningMedia.
An overview of STELLAR and its weekly premiere dates are as follows:
Episode 1: The Mysterious Quasar at the Beginning of the Universe
Host: Matt O'Dowd
Location: Gemini Observatory in Hawaii
Premiere Date: Thursday, June 20
In this episode, host Matt O'Dowd explores how Gemini Observatory detected the oldest and farthest object ever seen - the ancient J0439+1634 quasar. Dowd explains how humans use telescopes to expand their vision into the electromagnetic spectrum, revealing what's out there millions and billions of light years away, just by analyzing the invisible wavelengths traveling through space.
Episode 2: Detecting Black Hole Collisions from 5 Billion Years Ago
Host: Dianna Cowern
Location: LIGO Hanford Observatory in Washington
Premiere Date: Tuesday, June 25
Going beyond the EM spectrum, it is now possible to see a phenomenon that was completely theoretical and invisible to all until just a few years ago: gravitational waves. By sensing the tiniest ripples in gravity, itself, we can see violent stellar collisions like the merging of black holes and neutron stars - events that happened hundreds of millions or billions of years in the past.
Episode 3: Imaging an Impossible Object with a World Sized Telescope
Host: Joe Hanson
Location: Submillimeter Array in Hawaii
Premiere Date: Thursday, June 27
Black holes began as theoretical curiosity in the minds of early 20th century physicists and slowly moved from curiosity to reality, as both the math and observatory observations verified the necessity of their existence. But we had no idea what they looked like and no way to take an image, until now. This is the story of how a worldwide group of telescopes used radio interferometry to not only prove irrefutably that black holes exist but show us what they look like.
Episode 4: How We Discovered the Universe
Host: Matt O'Dowd
Location: Mt. Wilson Observatory in California and American Museum of Natural History in New York
Premiere Date: Thursday, July 11
At the beginning of the 20th century humans thought the Milky Way Galaxy was the entire universe. By the end of the century we discovered the universe is composed of more than 100 billion galaxies. This episode is the story of that incredible awakening to the magnitude of our universe, starting with the discoveries of Edwin Hubble at Mt. Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles.
Episode 5: Where is Everyone?
Host: Joe Hanson
Location: Mauna Kea Summit and W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii
Premiere: Thursday, July 18
In this enormous universe there must be other intelligent life, so why haven't we met them yet? We explore the Drake Equation to discover the likelihood that intelligent civilizations exist and how many of them there may be, and identify what risks they, and humanity, face as they grow into technological powers.
Episode 6: Can We Live Elsewhere in the Solar System?
Host: Dianna Cowern
Location: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California
Premiere Date: Thursday, July 25
Could we live anywhere else in our solar system? In this episode, we investigate how NASA's rovers are setting the stage for human habitations on Mars and discuss the challenges we face in both getting there and creating a sustainable colony. And we explore Jupiter's moon Europa and its ice-covered ocean, which very well may contain life.
STELLAR is produced by Kornhaber Brown, PBS Digital Studios' longtime production partner behind Space Time and PBS Idea Channel. Support for the miniseries was provided by Draper and its Hack the Moon Initiative.
About PBS Digital Studios
PBS Digital Studio
North America Stories
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
STELLAR, A New Six Part Miniseries from PBS Digital Studios.
