It's official -- "The Hidden Universe" is no longer a secret. The video podcast series from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope Science Centre has reached one million downloads! This series takes viewers on a visually stunning voyage into the infrared universe lurking beyond the realm of human vision. When the series originally launched in May 2006, it was the first video podcast for a NASA mission. In March 2007, the series was the first astronomy podcast offered in high-definition. Over the next few months, ratings for the high-definition feed surged -- and in September 2007, The Hidden Universe HD was the number one podcast in US iTunes music store, since then it has lingered among the top 25 of all podcasts. This video series showcases some of the most exciting discoveries in infrared astronomy from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Looking beyond the visible spectrum of light, Spitzer can see a whole new universe of dust and stars hidden from our Earth-bound eyes.
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Gallery Explorer: Galaxies Galaxies take on striking new colors and structures when viewed by the infrared eye of the Spitzer Space Telescope. (Running Time: 1:53) November 30, 2007 transcript
Showcase: Trilogy of Terror For Halloween, a trilogy of spooky star-forming regions tell a haunting tale of the lives and deaths of stars. (Running Time: 5:24) October 30, 2007 transcript
Showcase: Mira, A Real Shooting Star The star Mira has kept a stunning secret that scientists have only just discovered in the glow of ultraviolet light. (Running Time: 5:03) October 2, 2007 transcript
Gallery Explorer: Helix Nebula The eerie Helix nebula, created from the outer layers of a dying star once like our own, reveals secrets to the Spitzer Space Telescope. (Running Time: 1:56) September 5, 2007
Gallery Explorer: Eta Carinae The beautiful Carina nebula, stretching 200 light years across space, has been shredded by ultraviolet radiation and winds from a behemoth of a star. (Running Time: 1:56) July 20, 2007
Special: M51 & Gizmo What makes the Earth livable? In this animated cartoon, innocent alien M51 moves the Earth into a closer orbit around the sun, and learns an important lesson about life in the Universe. (Running Time: 4:15) June 28, 2007
Gallery Explorer: Galactic Center The fantastic structures at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, hidden from us in visible light, are revealed through infrared imagery. (Running Time: 2:11) May 30, 2007
Showcase: Andromeda, Beauty and the Beast In Greek Mythology, the Princess Andromeda was sacrificed to appease a sea monster's appetite. But astronomers are learning that the Andromeda Galaxy is less the spiral beauty and more the voracious beast. (Running Time: 5:06) May 14, 2007 transcript
Gallery Explorer: Large Magellanic Cloud The Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits the Milky Way, is revealed in exquisite detail in this video from the Spitzer Space Telescope. (Running Time: 2:05) May 2, 2007
Pillars of Destruction They're known as the Pillars of Creation, but according to recent Spitzer observations these ghostly apparitions have already met their own destruction! (Running Time: 4:19) January 30, 2007 transcript
Seeing the First Light Astronomers peering deeply into the cosmos think they have found something remarkable... the light from the first objects to form after the universe was born! (Running Time: 5:21) December 18, 2006 transcript
Night and Day on an Alien World It's as clear as day and night... but on an exotic alien world! Astronomers have for the first time measured the temperatures varying across the surface of a planet beyond our solar system. (Running Time: 4:42) October 12, 2006 transcript
Exposing the Exploding Cigar Galaxy M82 has been called an exploding galaxy, and three of NASA's Great Observatories have teamed up to show it like it's never been seen before. (Running Time: 3:57) June 16, 2006 transcript
Planetary Life After Death Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, astronomers have found that a whole new solar system may be forming in the wake of a star's violent death. (Running Time: 2:49) May 2, 2006 transcript