Black holes are the most enigmatic and exotic objects in the universe. They’re also the most powerful, with gravity so strong it can actually trap light. And they’re destructive. Anything that falls into them vanishes—gone forever. But now, astrophysicists are realizing that black holes may be essential to understanding how our universe unfolded—possibly leading to life on Earth and us.

Originally released by PBS, 2018. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on August 29, 2019.

Introduction: Black Hole Apocalypse (2:06); --Greatest Mysteries in Universe (1:52); -- Evidence of Ancient Collision (4:39); -- Strange Phenomena (2:10); -- What is Gravity? (3:58); -- Gravity and Black Holes (3:52); -- How Black Holes Are Born (5:54); -- Black Hole Encounter (5:18); -- Finding Invisible Objects (3:12); -- Discovery of Cygnus X-1 (7:03); -- Existence of Black Hole Confirmed (5:19); -- Visiting Binary System (3:59); -- Quasi-Stellar Radio Sources (6:37); -- Peering Into Milky Way's Center (6:11); -- Are Supermassive Black Holes Common? (4:49); -- Trip to Andromeda Galaxy (5:01); -- How Do Black Holes Grow? (3:54); -- Tidal Disruption Event (5:04); -- Direct Collapse Theory (5:33); -- Key Players in the Universe? (4:15); -- Promising Developments (3:07); -- Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory Project (12:12); -- Violent Mergers (5:37); -- Credits: Black Hole Apocalypse (0:48); .