Saturn expert stars in BBC One ‘Solar System’ series

A space scientist researching Saturn and Jupiter at the University of Reading is set to appear in a new BBC series about Earth’s planetary neighbours. 

Dr James O’Donoghue was one of the main academic consultants and also features in episode five of Solar System, presented by Professor Brian Cox. Dr O’Donoghue’s creation of more than 100 space animations enabled him to help the series’ producers to refine CGI animations of Saturn.

The episode Dr O’Donoghue stars in, called ‘Strange Worlds’, looks at the solar system’s weirdest worlds, described as ‘the misfits and oddballs with freakish shapes and sizes.’ At the end of the episode, the discussion turns to Saturn’s rings, and the probability that they may one day disappear.Dr O’Donoghue explains how Saturn’s rings are slowly being eroded by Saturn’s strong gravitational pull.

Watch Episode 5 of Solar System on BBC iPlayer in full now, or on BBC One on Monday, 4 November at 9pm. A similar version of the episode starring Dr O’Donoghue will premiere in the USA on Nova on Thursday, 10 October.

The rate at which the rings are eroding is something Dr O’Donoghue - formerly of Nasa and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency - is currently researching. The rate of erosion will be tracked by Dr O’Donoghue and his research team using some of the world’s most powerful telescopes, such as the Keck telescope in Hawai’i and the space-based James Webb Space Telescope.

The research project will also look at Jupiter’s atmosphere. Earlier this month, Dr O’Donoghue wrote for The Conversation about Nasa’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will investigate whether an icy moon of Jupiter’s could support alien life.