1 00:00:02,867 --> 00:00:04,200 Narrator: JUPITER, 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,700 A COSMIC COLOSSUS REIGNING OVER THE OTHER PLANETS. 3 00:00:07,700 --> 00:00:10,967 TAKE THE PLANET EARTH, NOW GET 1,000 OF THEM, 4 00:00:10,967 --> 00:00:12,900 AND THAT'S THE SIZE OF JUPITER. 5 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:15,400 Narrator: HIDDEN BENEATH ITS SWIRLING CLOUDS 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,900 LIE THE SECRETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S FOUNDATION, 7 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:21,400 OF OUR PLANET'S VIOLENT YOUTH... 8 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:22,800 WHEN THE BIGGEST THING IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM 9 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,333 IS MOVING THIS FAR THIS FAST, 10 00:00:24,333 --> 00:00:26,333 IT CHANGES EVERYTHING AROUND IT. 11 00:00:26,333 --> 00:00:29,133 Narrator: ...AND THE BIRTH OF LIFE. 12 00:00:29,133 --> 00:00:32,467 IF IT WASN'T FOR JUPITER, RIGHT WHERE I'M STANDING, 13 00:00:32,467 --> 00:00:36,333 THERE MIGHT BE GIGANTIC METEOR IMPACT CRATER. 14 00:00:39,100 --> 00:00:41,500 Narrator: NOW, SCIENTISTS ARE UNLOCKING 15 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:45,367 THE GIANT PLANET'S SECRETS AND DISCOVERING THAT JUPITER, 16 00:00:45,367 --> 00:00:49,033 MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLANET, SHAPES OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S 17 00:00:49,033 --> 00:00:53,500 PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. 18 00:00:53,500 --> 00:00:56,133 WITHOUT JUPITER, MOST CERTAINLY, 19 00:00:56,133 --> 00:00:57,800 WE WOULDN'T BE HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT. 20 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,867 -- Captions by VITAC -- www.vitac.com 21 00:01:00,867 --> 00:01:03,900 CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS 22 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:14,767 Narrator: JUPITER -- 23 00:01:14,767 --> 00:01:19,567 NAMED AFTER THE ROMAN KING OF THE GODS, THE GOD OF THE SKY, 24 00:01:19,567 --> 00:01:23,733 IT LOOMS BETWEEN THE FOUR INNER ROCKY PLANETS 25 00:01:23,733 --> 00:01:27,067 AND THE THREE FROZEN GAS GIANTS BEYOND. 26 00:01:27,067 --> 00:01:30,433 IT IS OUR LARGEST PLANET BY FAR. 27 00:01:30,433 --> 00:01:32,367 Plait: JUPITER IS THE KING OF THE PLANETS, 28 00:01:32,367 --> 00:01:34,967 AND THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS THE BIGGEST OF THE PLANETS. 29 00:01:34,967 --> 00:01:37,767 IT HAS A STORM ON IT THAT'S ACTUALLY FOUR TIMES 30 00:01:37,767 --> 00:01:39,167 BIGGER THAN THE EARTH ITSELF, 31 00:01:39,167 --> 00:01:41,267 AND IT'S BEEN RAGING FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. 32 00:01:41,267 --> 00:01:45,467 IT HAS DOZENS OF MOONS, THIS GIGANTIC MAGNETIC FIELD. 33 00:01:45,467 --> 00:01:47,933 EVERYTHING ABOUT JUPITER IS JUST HUGE. 34 00:01:47,933 --> 00:01:49,333 IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING SMALL. 35 00:01:49,333 --> 00:01:51,500 IF YOU WERE LOOKING AT OUR SOLAR SYSTEM FROM AFAR, 36 00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:52,533 YOU'D LOOK AND YOU'D SAY, 37 00:01:52,533 --> 00:01:54,600 "OUR SOLAR SYSTEM IS MADE OF THE SUN, 38 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,633 JUPITER, AND ASSORTED RUBBLE. 39 00:01:56,633 --> 00:01:58,867 Narrator: THIS VAST PLANET 40 00:01:58,867 --> 00:02:03,067 CONTAINS THE CLUES TO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S FORMATION, 41 00:02:03,067 --> 00:02:07,333 ITS EVOLUTION, AND ITS EVENTUAL DEATH. 42 00:02:07,333 --> 00:02:11,633 JUPITER IS A COSMIC TIME CAPSULE. 43 00:02:11,633 --> 00:02:14,300 IF ONLY WE COULD OPEN IT. 44 00:02:14,300 --> 00:02:16,633 IN THE ROMAN MYTH, JUPITER, THE GOD, 45 00:02:16,633 --> 00:02:19,667 DREW A VEIL OF CLOUDS AROUND HIM TO HIDE HIS MISCHIEF, 46 00:02:19,667 --> 00:02:20,733 AND THAT'S, TO SOME EXTENT, 47 00:02:20,733 --> 00:02:22,633 WHAT'S HAPPENED WHEN WE LOOK AT JUPITER. 48 00:02:22,633 --> 00:02:25,067 WE'RE SEEING NOT THE SURFACE OF A PLANET, 49 00:02:25,067 --> 00:02:27,767 BUT THE EDGE OF A CLOUD. 50 00:02:27,767 --> 00:02:31,767 Narrator: THIS SHROUD OF GAS HIDES JUPITER'S DEEPEST SECRETS. 51 00:02:31,767 --> 00:02:33,467 Thaller: ONE OF THE BIG MYSTERIES OF JUPITER 52 00:02:33,467 --> 00:02:36,267 IS WHAT'S AT THE VERY CENTER. WHAT IS ITS CORE? 53 00:02:36,267 --> 00:02:38,333 AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW YET. 54 00:02:38,333 --> 00:02:41,933 Narrator: BUT WE DO KNOW THAT WHAT'S HAPPENING INSIDE JUPITER 55 00:02:41,933 --> 00:02:44,267 GIVES THE PLANETS ITS POWER. 56 00:02:44,267 --> 00:02:47,067 Plait: IF WE WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON 57 00:02:47,067 --> 00:02:49,067 IN THIS KING OF THE PLANETS, 58 00:02:49,067 --> 00:02:50,400 WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO BE ABLE 59 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,067 TO PART THOSE CLOUDS AND PEER INSIDE. 60 00:02:53,067 --> 00:02:54,500 Narrator: SIMPLE PHYSICS TELLS US 61 00:02:54,500 --> 00:02:58,900 ITS MASSIVE ATMOSPHERE IS THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES. 62 00:02:58,900 --> 00:03:01,533 BECAUSE IT'S A GAS GIANT, THE ATMOSPHERE, 63 00:03:01,533 --> 00:03:04,500 AS YOU GET DEEPER INTO IT, JUST GETS DENSER AND DENSER 64 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:07,167 AND THE PRESSURE GETS HIGHER AND HIGHER. 65 00:03:07,167 --> 00:03:09,733 Narrator: FROM THE CLOUD TOPS TO THE PLANET'S CENTER 66 00:03:09,733 --> 00:03:11,933 IS 43,000 MILES. 67 00:03:11,933 --> 00:03:16,267 THAT'S A THREE-DAY, NONSTOP JOURNEY IN A JUMBO JET. 68 00:03:16,267 --> 00:03:20,600 THE DECENT WOULD BE A HELLISH ROLLER COASTER RIDE. 69 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,067 AND WE KNOW THIS, BECAUSE WE'VE TRIED. 70 00:03:24,067 --> 00:03:26,733 Plait: THE GALILEO PROBE ORBITED JUPITER FOR YEARS 71 00:03:26,733 --> 00:03:28,533 LOOKING AT THE CLOUD TOPS OF THE PLANET 72 00:03:28,533 --> 00:03:30,300 AND THE MOONS THAT ORBIT IT. 73 00:03:30,300 --> 00:03:32,167 BUT AT THE END OF THE MISSION, THEY DECIDED THEY COULD DO 74 00:03:32,167 --> 00:03:36,267 ONE MORE SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT. 75 00:03:36,267 --> 00:03:39,267 Narrator: DECEMBER 7, 1995. 76 00:03:39,267 --> 00:03:44,800 NASA'S GALILEO SPACE CRAFT DROPS A 750-POUND TITANIUM PROBE 77 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,333 INTO JUPITER'S ATMOSPHERE. 78 00:03:48,333 --> 00:03:54,067 IT SLAMS INTO THE CLOUD TOPS AT OVER 106,000 MILES AN HOUR. 79 00:04:02,833 --> 00:04:05,867 Kaku: EVEN THOUGH JUPITER LOOKS CALM AND SERENE FROM A DISTANCE, 80 00:04:05,867 --> 00:04:07,133 AS YOU GET CLOSER, 81 00:04:07,133 --> 00:04:09,567 YOU REALIZE THAT THERE ARE FEROCIOUS WINDS, 82 00:04:09,567 --> 00:04:11,267 THERE ARE LIGHTNING STORMS, 83 00:04:11,267 --> 00:04:15,267 AND THERE ARE PRESSURES THAT WOULD CRUSH ANY INSTRUMENT. 84 00:04:15,267 --> 00:04:18,400 THE PLANET IS 1,000 TIMES THE MASS OF THE EARTH, 85 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:20,400 AND THAT MEANS AS YOU GO INWARD, 86 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,867 THE PRESSURES AND DENSITIES BECOME VERY LARGE. 87 00:04:24,867 --> 00:04:28,533 Narrator: THE PROBE SENSORS REVEAL THAT HYDROGEN 88 00:04:28,533 --> 00:04:33,133 MAKES UP 90% OF JUPITER'S ATMOSPHERE. 89 00:04:33,133 --> 00:04:36,400 TEMPERATURES SOAR TO OVER 300 DEGREES. 90 00:04:39,300 --> 00:04:42,700 WINDS RAGE AT 400 MILES AN HOUR. 91 00:04:45,733 --> 00:04:50,467 IT'S HOTTER AND MORE TURBULENT THAN SCIENTISTS EVER IMAGINED. 92 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,667 58 MINUTES AFTER ENTERING JUPITER'S ATMOSPHERE, 93 00:04:55,667 --> 00:04:59,667 AND JUST 95 MILES DOWN, THE PROBE... 94 00:04:59,667 --> 00:05:03,067 VAPORIZES, 95 00:05:03,067 --> 00:05:07,200 LEAVING MOST OF JUPITER'S SECRETS BEYOND OUR REACH. 96 00:05:11,133 --> 00:05:15,433 WE CAN'T REACH THE PLANET'S CENTER, 97 00:05:15,433 --> 00:05:19,667 BUT AT THE NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY OUTSIDE SAN FRANCISCO, 98 00:05:19,667 --> 00:05:24,800 SCIENTISTS CAN RECREATE CONDITIONS DEEP INSIDE JUPITER. 99 00:05:27,867 --> 00:05:29,433 Collins: THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER FACILITIES 100 00:05:29,433 --> 00:05:31,933 WHERE WE CAN GENERATE, SAY, 101 00:05:31,933 --> 00:05:34,433 STATES THAT ARE FOUND AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 102 00:05:34,433 --> 00:05:37,633 OR SOME OF THE OTHER TERRESTRIAL PLANETS, 103 00:05:37,633 --> 00:05:39,233 BUT THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE 104 00:05:39,233 --> 00:05:42,733 YOU CAN RECREATE THE DEEPEST INTERIOR OF JUPITER. 105 00:05:42,733 --> 00:05:44,733 Narrator: THE TEAM TAKES HYDROGEN, 106 00:05:44,733 --> 00:05:46,767 THE MOST COMMON ELEMENT IN JUPITER, 107 00:05:46,767 --> 00:05:50,300 AND FREEZES IT, INCREASING ITS DENSITY. 108 00:05:50,300 --> 00:05:54,867 THEN, THEY FIRE UP THE WORLD'S LARGEST LASER. 109 00:05:54,867 --> 00:05:57,567 MULTIPLE LASER BEAMS RACE THROUGH A SERIES 110 00:05:57,567 --> 00:05:59,233 OF AMPLIFICATION CHAMBERS, 111 00:05:59,233 --> 00:06:03,067 INTENSIFYING BY A QUADRILLION TIMES, 112 00:06:03,067 --> 00:06:07,900 UNTIL, PERFECTLY SYNCHRONIZED, THE BEAMS CONVERGE. 113 00:06:07,900 --> 00:06:10,100 FOR 20 BILLIONTHS OF A SECOND, 114 00:06:10,100 --> 00:06:14,933 THE LASER BOMBARDS THE HYDROGEN WITH 1,000 TIMES MORE ENERGY 115 00:06:14,933 --> 00:06:19,367 THAN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES USES AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT. 116 00:06:19,367 --> 00:06:23,433 Collins: IT TURNS OUT THAT AT THOSE VERY EXTREME PRESSURES, 117 00:06:23,433 --> 00:06:27,067 A HUNDRED MILLION ATMOSPHERES OF PRESSURES, 118 00:06:27,067 --> 00:06:29,933 CHEMISTRY IS JUST COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. 119 00:06:32,767 --> 00:06:36,533 INSTEAD OF REALLY DISTORTING THE CHEMICAL BOND, 120 00:06:36,533 --> 00:06:41,567 NOW, YOU'RE DISTORTING HOW THE ATOM ITSELF BEHAVES. 121 00:06:41,567 --> 00:06:44,767 MATTER BEHAVES IN A FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT WAY 122 00:06:44,767 --> 00:06:48,400 THAN WE EXPERIENCE IT HERE ON EARTH. 123 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:49,667 Narrator: THE ATOMS BREAK DOWN, 124 00:06:49,667 --> 00:06:53,633 TRANSFORMING THE HYDROGEN GAS INTO A LIQUID -- 125 00:06:53,633 --> 00:06:58,567 A LIQUID METAL CONCENTRATED DEEP INSIDE THE PLANET. 126 00:06:58,567 --> 00:07:00,433 Collins: ESSENTIALLY, YOU WOULD HAVE 127 00:07:00,433 --> 00:07:03,100 THIS VERY DENSE STRUCTURE, 128 00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:06,067 AND IT PERHAPS WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS MASSIVE BALL 129 00:07:06,067 --> 00:07:08,800 OF MERCURY AT THE CENTER OF JUPITER. 130 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:10,067 Narrator: UNDER IMMENSE PRESSURE, 131 00:07:10,067 --> 00:07:12,867 THE LIQUID HYDROGEN EMITS ENERGY AS HEAT, 132 00:07:12,867 --> 00:07:16,633 PUSHING TEMPERATURES AT THE EDGE OF THIS METALLIC SPHERE 133 00:07:16,633 --> 00:07:20,333 UP TO 11,000 DEGREES. 134 00:07:20,333 --> 00:07:24,267 WHAT LIES INSIDE REMAINS A MYSTERY. 135 00:07:24,267 --> 00:07:26,233 THERE COULD BE A LITTLE ROCKY PLANET 136 00:07:26,233 --> 00:07:28,933 UNDERNEATH ALL OF THAT GAS AND ALL OF THAT LIQUID. 137 00:07:28,933 --> 00:07:31,767 IT COULD BE MORE OF A BALL OF SUPER COMPRESSED ICE. 138 00:07:31,767 --> 00:07:34,200 THERE PROBABLY IS SOMETHING SOLID DOWN THERE. 139 00:07:36,433 --> 00:07:39,367 Narrator: IT'S THE PROCESSES HAPPENING INSIDE JUPITER 140 00:07:39,367 --> 00:07:43,267 THAT GIVE THE PLANET ITS POWER -- 141 00:07:43,267 --> 00:07:48,500 POWER TO SHAPE THE SOLAR SYSTEM SINCE ITS EARLIEST DAYS. 142 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:49,767 APART FROM THE SUN, 143 00:07:49,767 --> 00:07:54,700 JUPITER IS THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 144 00:07:54,700 --> 00:07:57,800 BUT THIS MONSTER IS SHRINKING. 145 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,600 IS JUPITER LOSING ITS POWER? 146 00:08:10,067 --> 00:08:13,633 Narrator: A THOUSAND TIMES MORE MASSIVE THAN THE EARTH, 147 00:08:13,633 --> 00:08:16,267 JUPITER COULD SWALLOW ALL THE OTHER PLANETS 148 00:08:16,267 --> 00:08:21,333 IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM TWICE AND STILL HAVE ROOM FOR MORE. 149 00:08:21,333 --> 00:08:25,333 BUT THIS GIANT IS GETTING SMALLER. 150 00:08:25,333 --> 00:08:27,067 Thaller: GRAVITY IS STILL BRINGING 151 00:08:27,067 --> 00:08:30,533 ALL OF THE GASES AND LIQUIDS TOGETHER. 152 00:08:30,533 --> 00:08:34,733 AND THAT HEATS UP THE INTERIOR OF JUPITER. 153 00:08:34,733 --> 00:08:37,867 Narrator: THIS HEAT RISES UP TO JUPITER'S SURFACE 154 00:08:37,867 --> 00:08:39,967 AND ESCAPES INTO SPACE. 155 00:08:39,967 --> 00:08:42,733 THE PLANET COOLS AND SHRINKS, 156 00:08:42,733 --> 00:08:46,267 MAKING THE GAS GIANT A THIRD SMALLER TODAY 157 00:08:46,267 --> 00:08:48,700 THAN WHEN IT FIRST FORMED. 158 00:08:48,700 --> 00:08:50,067 AS THE PLANET COOLS, 159 00:08:50,067 --> 00:08:54,133 THE SHRINKING SLOWS FROM AN INCH A YEAR IN ITS INFANCY 160 00:08:54,133 --> 00:08:56,867 TO JUST A FEW FRACTIONS OF AN INCH TODAY. 161 00:08:56,867 --> 00:09:00,767 AND SCIENTISTS CALCULATE IT COULD CONTINUE SHRINKING 162 00:09:00,767 --> 00:09:04,567 FOR 1,000 BILLION YEARS. 163 00:09:04,567 --> 00:09:07,633 EVEN THEN, IT WILL ALWAYS BE THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S 164 00:09:07,633 --> 00:09:10,067 BIGGEST, MOST POWERFUL PLANET. 165 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,967 JUPITER IS SHRINKING TOO SLOWLY FOR US TO SEE, 166 00:09:15,967 --> 00:09:19,233 BUT WE CAN SEE THE EFFECT OF THIS RISING HEAT. 167 00:09:19,233 --> 00:09:21,267 Thaller: THIS IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE REASONS JUPITER 168 00:09:21,267 --> 00:09:22,900 HAS THE SPECTACULAR WEATHER -- 169 00:09:22,900 --> 00:09:25,100 ALL OF THOSE BEAUTIFUL BANDS OF CLOUDS. 170 00:09:28,500 --> 00:09:32,067 Narrator: ON EARTH, THE SUN'S HEAT DRIVES OUR WEATHER. 171 00:09:32,067 --> 00:09:35,567 SWITCH OFF THE SUN, AND OUR WEATHER WOULD STOP. 172 00:09:35,567 --> 00:09:38,933 BUT JUPITER'S WEATHER WOULD KEEP ON GOING. 173 00:09:38,933 --> 00:09:41,433 ITS WEATHER DOESN'T COME FROM THE SUN. 174 00:09:41,433 --> 00:09:45,067 IT COMES FROM DEEP INSIDE THE PLANET ITSELF. 175 00:09:45,067 --> 00:09:49,467 HEAT RISES UP THROUGH THE BOILING SOUP OF GAS, 176 00:09:49,467 --> 00:09:54,267 CHURNING ITS COCKTAIL OF VOLATILE CHEMICALS, 177 00:09:54,267 --> 00:10:00,133 CREATING JUPITER'S SPECTACULAR SWIRLING CLOUDS. 178 00:10:00,133 --> 00:10:04,167 AND THE WHOLE TIME, THE GIANT PLANET SPINS. 179 00:10:04,167 --> 00:10:06,400 AT 29,000 MILES AN HOUR, 180 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,900 JUPITER ROTATES FASTER THAN ANY OTHER PLANET 181 00:10:09,900 --> 00:10:11,667 IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 182 00:10:14,033 --> 00:10:17,367 JUPITER ROTATES ON ITS AXIS ABOUT ONCE EVERY NINE HOURS, 183 00:10:17,367 --> 00:10:19,567 COMPARED TO A 24-HOUR DAY FOR US. 184 00:10:19,567 --> 00:10:22,667 SO, HUGE, SUPER-HEATED CLOUDS FROM THE INTERIOR 185 00:10:22,667 --> 00:10:24,700 GET SMEARED OUT BY THE ROTATION, 186 00:10:24,700 --> 00:10:27,100 AND WE HAVE THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUD TOPS OF JUPITER. 187 00:10:27,100 --> 00:10:31,933 Narrator: THIS MARRIAGE OF HEAT AND MOTION SPAWNS A MONSTER. 188 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,100 Krauss: JUPITER'S RED SPOT IS A GIGANTIC CYCLONE, 189 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:39,233 LARGER THAN THE SIZE OF THE EARTH, 190 00:10:39,233 --> 00:10:42,833 AND HAS BEEN ROTATING STABLY WITH WINDS IN EXCESS 191 00:10:42,833 --> 00:10:46,967 OF 250 MILES PER HOUR FOR OVER THREE CENTURIES. 192 00:10:46,967 --> 00:10:51,867 IMAGINE A STORM THAT LASTS FOR 300 YEARS. 193 00:10:51,867 --> 00:10:55,567 Narrator: ON EARTH, CYCLONES DIE WHEN THEY HIT LAND, 194 00:10:55,567 --> 00:10:59,233 BUT JUPITER HAS NO LAND TO STOP ITS STORMS, 195 00:10:59,233 --> 00:11:02,200 ALMOST UNLIMITED HEAT TO FUEL THEM 196 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,233 AND A RAPID ROTATION. 197 00:11:07,567 --> 00:11:09,567 Plait: JUPITER IS BASICALLY STOKING 198 00:11:09,567 --> 00:11:12,433 THE FIRES OF THE GREAT RED SPOT. 199 00:11:12,433 --> 00:11:15,433 WE'RE USED TO STORMS GROWING AND THEN GOING AWAY ON EARTH, 200 00:11:15,433 --> 00:11:17,133 BUT IF THEY'RE SPINNING THE RIGHT WAY, 201 00:11:17,133 --> 00:11:19,700 BECAUSE JUPITER IS SO BIG AND SPINNING SO QUICKLY, 202 00:11:19,700 --> 00:11:23,600 THEY FEED INTO EACH OTHER, AND IT KEEPS THE STORM ALIVE. 203 00:11:25,067 --> 00:11:27,700 Narrator: LONG AFTER THE OTHER PLANETS FREEZE AND DIE, 204 00:11:27,700 --> 00:11:31,067 JUPITER WILL STILL BE PUMPING OUT HEAT, 205 00:11:31,067 --> 00:11:34,367 DRIVING ITS MONSTER STORMS, 206 00:11:34,367 --> 00:11:37,567 THANKS TO ITS IMMENSE SIZE. 207 00:11:41,467 --> 00:11:43,867 AND THE SECRET OF ITS SIZE 208 00:11:43,867 --> 00:11:48,167 LIES IN THE INFANCY OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 209 00:11:48,167 --> 00:11:50,900 JUST OVER 4.5 BILLION YEARS AGO, 210 00:11:50,900 --> 00:11:53,633 IN THE DISK OF DUST AND GAS LEFTOVER 211 00:11:53,633 --> 00:11:57,733 FROM THE SUN'S FORMATION, THE FIRST PLANET FORMS. 212 00:11:57,733 --> 00:12:01,567 Krauss: JUPITER BEGAN TO FORM EARLY ON AND BEGAN TO GOBBLE UP 213 00:12:01,567 --> 00:12:06,233 WATER, FROZEN COMETS, METEORS, AND GROW. 214 00:12:06,233 --> 00:12:09,267 WHEN YOU IMAGINE A LITTER OF ANIMALS, 215 00:12:09,267 --> 00:12:11,633 ONE OF THEM USUALLY WINS. 216 00:12:11,633 --> 00:12:13,067 AND THE ONE THAT WINS IS THE ONE 217 00:12:13,067 --> 00:12:15,800 THAT BEGINS TO EAT THE MOST FIRST. 218 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,600 THE SAME THING HAPPENED WITH JUPITER, IN SOME SENSE. 219 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:21,767 Narrator: JUPITER FORMS AT THE RIGHT TIME 220 00:12:21,767 --> 00:12:26,333 AND IN THE RIGHT PLACE -- JUST INSIDE THE FROST LINE, 221 00:12:26,333 --> 00:12:30,700 THE POINT 325 MILLION MILES FROM THE SUN 222 00:12:30,700 --> 00:12:34,800 WHERE WATER VAPOR TURNS TO ICE. 223 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:36,333 Kaku: CLOSE TO THE SUN, 224 00:12:36,333 --> 00:12:38,433 ROCKY PLANETS CANNOT GROW VERY BIG. 225 00:12:38,433 --> 00:12:39,967 A LITTLE BIT BIGGER THAN THE EARTH, 226 00:12:39,967 --> 00:12:41,867 AND THE PLANET FALLS APART. 227 00:12:41,867 --> 00:12:43,433 FURTHER OUT, HOWEVER, 228 00:12:43,433 --> 00:12:46,400 ICE IS A GLUE THAT CAN HOLD ROCK TOGETHER. 229 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,700 AND SO YOU HAVE MASSIVE ROCKY ICE PLANETS 230 00:12:49,700 --> 00:12:55,100 BIG ENOUGH TO CAPTURE HYDROGEN GAS AND BECOME A GAS GIANT. 231 00:12:57,367 --> 00:12:58,700 Narrator: CLOSE TO THE SUN, 232 00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:03,067 GAS IS TOO HOT AND ENERGETIC TO STICK TO ANYTHING. 233 00:13:03,067 --> 00:13:06,600 OUT HERE, GAS IS COLD AND SLUGGISH. 234 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:10,633 SO, WHEN GRAVITY PULLS GAS TOWARDS JUPITER'S CORE, 235 00:13:10,633 --> 00:13:12,233 IT STICKS, 236 00:13:12,233 --> 00:13:16,067 AND JUPITER BALLOONS. 237 00:13:16,067 --> 00:13:18,700 Krauss: AND AS IT GREW, ITS GRAVITY GREW, 238 00:13:18,700 --> 00:13:21,533 AND THEREFORE, ITS ABILITY TO GOBBLE UP MORE INCREASED. 239 00:13:21,533 --> 00:13:23,867 SO IT WAS THE LUCKY WINNER 240 00:13:23,867 --> 00:13:28,367 BY STARTING EARLY AND EATING OFTEN. 241 00:13:28,367 --> 00:13:31,633 Narrator: THE PLANET EATS EVERYTHING IN ITS REACH 242 00:13:31,633 --> 00:13:35,200 UNTIL IT BECOMES THE GIANT WE SEE TODAY. 243 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:42,967 BUT 4.5 BILLION YEARS AGO, JUPITER IS IN THE WRONG PLACE. 244 00:13:42,967 --> 00:13:48,900 IT'S SPIRALING TOWARDS THE SUN AND A FIERY DEATH. 245 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:02,700 Narrator: THE BIGGEST PLANET WITH THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE, 246 00:14:02,700 --> 00:14:06,067 JUPITER IS UNIQUE IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, 247 00:14:09,367 --> 00:14:12,833 BUT NOT IN OUR GALAXY. 248 00:14:12,833 --> 00:14:16,533 OCTOBER 1995, SCIENTISTS DISCOVER 249 00:14:16,533 --> 00:14:19,867 THE FIRST PLANET BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 250 00:14:22,067 --> 00:14:24,067 51 LIGHT-YEARS FROM EARTH, 251 00:14:24,067 --> 00:14:28,500 51 PEGASI B IS A GIANT GAS PLANET, 252 00:14:28,500 --> 00:14:32,633 SIMILAR TO JUPITER IN EVERY WAY EXCEPT ONE. 253 00:14:32,633 --> 00:14:35,867 Plait: THE FIRST EXOPLANET FOUND ORBITING A STAR LIKE THE SUN 254 00:14:35,867 --> 00:14:37,400 WAS A HUGE SURPRISE. 255 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:38,933 IT WAS CALLED A HOT JUPITER 256 00:14:38,933 --> 00:14:41,333 BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF JUPITER, 257 00:14:41,333 --> 00:14:44,333 BUT IT WAS TREMENDOUSLY CLOSE IN TO ITS STAR, 258 00:14:44,333 --> 00:14:47,900 MUCH CLOSER, EVEN, THAN MERCURY IS TO THE SUN. 259 00:14:47,900 --> 00:14:49,933 Narrator: SINCE THAT FIRST DISCOVERY, 260 00:14:49,933 --> 00:14:53,567 ASTRONOMERS HAVE IDENTIFIED HUNDREDS OF GAS GIANTS 261 00:14:53,567 --> 00:14:55,867 OUTSIDE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 262 00:14:55,867 --> 00:15:00,800 MANY ORBIT EXTREMELY CLOSE TO THEIR PARENT STAR. 263 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:05,700 THE PLANET WASP-33 B, 378 LIGHT-YEARS AWAY, 264 00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:08,533 ORBITS SO CLOSE TO ITS STAR 265 00:15:08,533 --> 00:15:13,867 THAT ITS SURFACE IS A SCORCHING 5,800 DEGREES. 266 00:15:13,867 --> 00:15:17,667 IT'S THE HOTTEST PLANET EVER OBSERVED IN THE UNIVERSE. 267 00:15:17,667 --> 00:15:20,300 NOW, WE KNOW THAT PLANETS LIKE THAT CAN'T FORM THERE. 268 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:24,100 IT'S JUST TOO HOT TO BE ABLE TO COALESCE FROM ALL THE GAS. 269 00:15:24,100 --> 00:15:28,267 Narrator: THESE HOT JUPITERS MUST HAVE FORMED FARTHER OUT. 270 00:15:28,267 --> 00:15:30,267 Thaller: HOW DO YOU GET A JUPITER-LIKE PLANET 271 00:15:30,267 --> 00:15:31,767 THAT CLOSE TO A STAR? 272 00:15:31,767 --> 00:15:34,867 SOMEHOW, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO BUILD A BIG PLANET 273 00:15:34,867 --> 00:15:36,533 AND THEN MOVE IT IN. 274 00:15:36,533 --> 00:15:38,467 AND THIS HAD US ASKING ALL KINDS OF QUESTIONS. 275 00:15:38,467 --> 00:15:41,067 IF WE SEE IT GOING ON ELSEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE, 276 00:15:41,067 --> 00:15:43,067 IS THAT HOW OUR OWN SOLAR SYSTEM WORKED, TOO? 277 00:15:43,067 --> 00:15:44,600 SO NOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT JUPITER, 278 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,800 WE THINK, "ALL RIGHT, THAT'S WHERE IT IS TODAY, 279 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,900 "BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THERE. 280 00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:50,567 "IT COULD HAVE MOVED ALL OVER THE PLACE, 281 00:15:50,567 --> 00:15:52,267 "AND IT JUST ENDED UP WHERE IT IS -- 282 00:15:52,267 --> 00:15:53,500 WHERE WE FIND IT TODAY." 283 00:15:53,500 --> 00:15:56,067 Narrator: THE QUESTION IS HOW? 284 00:15:56,067 --> 00:15:59,633 HOW DID THIS GIANT PLANET END UP WHERE IT IS TODAY? 285 00:15:59,633 --> 00:16:03,133 AND WHAT EFFECT DID A MIGRATING JUPITER 286 00:16:03,133 --> 00:16:05,400 HAVE ON THE OTHER PLANETS? 287 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,967 IN 2011, WALSH AND HIS TEAM RE-IMAGINED THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 288 00:16:09,967 --> 00:16:13,500 THEY SET JUPITER ADRIFT, AND IN THE PROCESS, 289 00:16:13,500 --> 00:16:17,633 THEY SOLVE ONE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S GREATEST PUZZLES. 290 00:16:17,633 --> 00:16:20,667 Walsh: WE WOULD BUILD OUR MODELS, WOULD GET A VENUS 291 00:16:20,667 --> 00:16:23,467 RIGHT WHERE THE VENUS IS SUPPOSED TO BE, 292 00:16:23,467 --> 00:16:26,933 WOULD GET AN EARTH RIGHT WHERE THE EARTH IS SUPPOSED TO BE. 293 00:16:26,933 --> 00:16:28,400 BUT WHERE MARS IS TODAY, 294 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,267 WE WERE USUALLY GETTING A VENUS OR EARTH-MASSED PLANET. 295 00:16:31,267 --> 00:16:34,167 NO MATTER WHAT WE DID, NO MATTER HOW WE CHANGED THE MODEL, 296 00:16:34,167 --> 00:16:36,433 WE WERE ALWAYS GETTING A REALLY BIG MARS. 297 00:16:36,433 --> 00:16:37,600 ALL OF OUR SIMULATION 298 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,367 SHOWED THAT MARS, WHERE IT IS IN THE DISK, 299 00:16:39,367 --> 00:16:42,067 SHOULD BE AT LEAST TEN TIMES THE MASS THAT IT IS. 300 00:16:42,067 --> 00:16:46,200 SOMETHING CAME IN AND LITERALLY ATE MARS' LUNCH. 301 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,433 Narrator: AND THAT SOMETHING WAS JUPITER. 302 00:16:49,433 --> 00:16:51,200 FOUR AND A HALF BILLION YEARS AGO, 303 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:55,733 JUPITER FORMS 325 MILLION MILES FROM THE SUN, 304 00:16:55,733 --> 00:16:59,200 ROUGHLY A THIRD CLOSER THAN IT IS TODAY. 305 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,067 THE ORBITING PLANET COLLIDES 306 00:17:01,067 --> 00:17:04,467 WITH THE DEBRIS LEFT OVER FROM THE SUN'S FORMATION, 307 00:17:04,467 --> 00:17:07,267 AND THESE COLLISIONS SLOW IT DOWN. 308 00:17:07,267 --> 00:17:09,100 IT LOSES MOMENTUM, 309 00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:13,067 AND THE SUN'S GRAVITY PULLS IT CLOSER. 310 00:17:13,067 --> 00:17:15,067 JUPITER SPIRALS INWARDS, 311 00:17:15,067 --> 00:17:20,700 GOBBLING UP THE RAW MATERIALS THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE MARS. 312 00:17:20,700 --> 00:17:22,633 SO, SEEING THAT RESULT, SEEING A GREAT SOLUTION 313 00:17:22,633 --> 00:17:26,300 TO THE SMALL MARS PROBLEM WAS KIND OF THE EUREKA MOMENT. 314 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:28,467 LIKE, WELL, MAYBE THERE'S A MECHANISM OUT THERE. 315 00:17:28,467 --> 00:17:29,900 WE KNOW THAT PLANETS MIGRATE. 316 00:17:29,900 --> 00:17:31,567 SO, LET'S PUT THESE TWO THINGS TOGETHER, 317 00:17:31,567 --> 00:17:33,867 AND MAYBE THIS IS GOING TO WORK. 318 00:17:33,867 --> 00:17:36,067 Narrator: AS JUPITER TRAVELS INWARDS, 319 00:17:36,067 --> 00:17:40,733 IT BULLDOZES THE ROCKY MATERIAL THAT LIES IN ITS PATH. 320 00:17:40,733 --> 00:17:43,733 Walsh: ON THE INWARD MIGRATION, THERE'S A LOT OF MATERIAL THERE. 321 00:17:43,733 --> 00:17:45,600 IT ACTUALLY PUSHES ALMOST ALL OF THAT, 322 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,733 ABOUT 80 % OF IT, INWARD. 323 00:17:47,733 --> 00:17:50,667 AND WHEN WE MAKE THE MOVIES IN A CERTAIN WAY, 324 00:17:50,667 --> 00:17:52,467 IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE A SNOWPLOW. 325 00:17:57,733 --> 00:17:59,533 Narrator: THE GAS AND DUST SQUEEZE 326 00:17:59,533 --> 00:18:02,400 INTO AN INNER DISK AROUND THE SUN. 327 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:03,633 AS JUPITER ORBITS, 328 00:18:03,633 --> 00:18:07,467 IT PUSHES AGAINST THIS DISK, CREATING A BULGE. 329 00:18:07,467 --> 00:18:11,900 THE BULGE RACES ROUND THE DISK, PULLING JUPITER WITH IT. 330 00:18:13,167 --> 00:18:17,233 JUPITER ACCELERATES AND TRIES TO PULL AWAY FROM THE SUN. 331 00:18:17,233 --> 00:18:21,533 BUT THE DEBRIS BEHIND JUPITER CONTINUES PUSHING INWARDS. 332 00:18:21,533 --> 00:18:23,100 IT'S A COSMIC STALEMATE, 333 00:18:23,100 --> 00:18:27,367 WITH THE PLANET TRAPPED BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER DISKS. 334 00:18:30,333 --> 00:18:34,300 THEN, SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENS. 335 00:18:34,300 --> 00:18:37,467 THE GIANT PLANET CHANGES DIRECTION. 336 00:18:37,467 --> 00:18:38,833 Walsh: AS WE'RE BUILDING THIS MODEL, 337 00:18:38,833 --> 00:18:41,233 WE'VE HAD THIS VISION OF JUPITER COMING INWARDS, 338 00:18:41,233 --> 00:18:42,633 TURNING AROUND AND GOING OUTWARDS. 339 00:18:42,633 --> 00:18:44,333 AND WE THOUGHT OF IT AS A SAILBOAT, 340 00:18:44,333 --> 00:18:47,867 KIND OF TACKING, COMING ABOUT, TURNING THROUGH THE WIND. 341 00:18:47,867 --> 00:18:49,767 SO, THE NAME "THE GRAND TACK MODEL," 342 00:18:49,767 --> 00:18:52,667 IT ACTUALLY COMES FROM SAILING TERMINOLOGY. 343 00:18:52,667 --> 00:18:55,300 Narrator: BUT JUPITER IS NO YACHT. 344 00:18:55,300 --> 00:18:58,333 IT'S A GIANT SUPERTANKER OF A PLANET. 345 00:18:58,333 --> 00:19:00,867 CHANGING ITS COURSE IS GOING TO TAKE SOMETHING 346 00:19:00,867 --> 00:19:03,500 SERIOUSLY POWERFUL. 347 00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:07,333 ENTER THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S SECOND LARGEST PLANET, 348 00:19:07,333 --> 00:19:09,733 SATURN. 349 00:19:09,733 --> 00:19:11,867 LIKE JUPITER BEFORE IT, 350 00:19:11,867 --> 00:19:16,700 SATURN HAS SPIRALED INWARDS, CLOSING IN ON THE GIANT PLANET. 351 00:19:16,700 --> 00:19:19,933 Thaller: AMAZINGLY, THERE WAS THIS WONDERFUL INTERPLAY 352 00:19:19,933 --> 00:19:21,567 BETWEEN JUPITER AND SATURN. 353 00:19:21,567 --> 00:19:23,833 AS THEY ATE UP ALL THE MATERIAL AROUND THEM, 354 00:19:23,833 --> 00:19:26,967 THERE WAS A GAP IN THE DISK LEFT OVER. 355 00:19:26,967 --> 00:19:29,767 WITH LESS MATERIAL BEHIND JUPITER AND SATURN, 356 00:19:29,767 --> 00:19:32,333 THERE'S LESS HOLDING THE PLANETS IN PLACE, 357 00:19:32,333 --> 00:19:34,800 ALLOWING THE FORCE FROM THE BULGING DISK 358 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,967 TO FLING JUPITER BACK OUT, 359 00:19:36,967 --> 00:19:40,233 WITH SATURN HITCHING A RIDE. 360 00:19:40,233 --> 00:19:43,300 Walsh: THE KEY FOR STOPPING JUPITER'S INWARD MIGRATION 361 00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:45,500 IN THE GRAND TACK IS SATURN. 362 00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:49,533 SATURN GROWING AT THE RIGHT TIME AND AT THE RIGHT PLACE 363 00:19:49,533 --> 00:19:52,633 ALLOWED IT TO MIGRATE CLOSE TO JUPITER AND CHANGE 364 00:19:52,633 --> 00:19:56,067 AND STOP JUPITER'S INWARD MIGRATION. 365 00:19:56,067 --> 00:20:01,233 Narrator: SATURN SAVES JUPITER FROM A FIERY FATE. 366 00:20:01,233 --> 00:20:02,867 AND THIS GRAND TACK 367 00:20:02,867 --> 00:20:06,900 LEAVES A PARTING GIFT, THE EARTH ITSELF, 368 00:20:08,900 --> 00:20:11,300 BECAUSE WHEN JUPITER MIGRATES OUT, 369 00:20:11,300 --> 00:20:16,433 IT LEAVES BEHIND THE ROCKY DEBRIS IT BULLDOZED IN. 370 00:20:16,433 --> 00:20:19,900 IT'S FROM THIS DEBRIS THAT THE EARTH FORMS. 371 00:20:22,433 --> 00:20:25,100 BUT BEYOND MARS, JUPITER'S POWERFUL GRAVITY 372 00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:29,067 PULLS ON THE DEBRIS, PREVENTING IT FROM STICKING TOGETHER, 373 00:20:29,067 --> 00:20:33,633 LEAVING THE RUBBLE SCATTERED AS A BAND OF ASTEROIDS. 374 00:20:33,633 --> 00:20:39,167 JUPITER'S GRAVITY IS SO STRONG THAT IT DETERMINES IN SOME WAYS 375 00:20:39,167 --> 00:20:41,067 WHAT CAN EXIST WHERE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM 376 00:20:41,067 --> 00:20:42,867 AND WHAT CAN'T. 377 00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:48,300 Narrator: THE ROCKY PLANETS, 378 00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:51,200 OUR PLANET, 379 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:52,867 AND BEYOND MARS, 380 00:20:52,867 --> 00:20:55,300 THE ASTEROID BELT, 381 00:20:55,300 --> 00:20:59,733 THEY ALL EXIST BECAUSE OF JUPITER'S EPIC JOURNEY. 382 00:20:59,733 --> 00:21:01,333 Walsh: WHEN THE BIGGEST THING IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM 383 00:21:01,333 --> 00:21:02,733 IS MOVING THIS FAR THIS FAST, 384 00:21:02,733 --> 00:21:04,567 IT CHANGES EVERYTHING AROUND IT. 385 00:21:06,633 --> 00:21:09,167 Narrator: FIVE MILLION YEARS AFTER IT FIRST FORMED, 386 00:21:09,167 --> 00:21:12,500 483 MILLION MILES FROM THE SUN, 387 00:21:12,500 --> 00:21:16,333 JUPITER REACHES ITS PRESENT ORBIT. 388 00:21:16,333 --> 00:21:17,767 ITS OUTWARD MOVEMENT 389 00:21:17,767 --> 00:21:22,433 AND THE INWARD PULL OF THE SUN'S GRAVITY ARE FINALLY BALANCED, 390 00:21:22,433 --> 00:21:27,100 BUT THIS IS STILL NOT THE SOLAR SYSTEM THAT WE SEE TODAY. 391 00:21:27,100 --> 00:21:28,633 Walsh: THE END POINT OF THE GRAND TACK MODEL 392 00:21:28,633 --> 00:21:30,300 WAS ACTUALLY THE IDEAL BEGINNINGS 393 00:21:30,300 --> 00:21:31,667 OF WHAT WE THINK HAPPENED 394 00:21:31,667 --> 00:21:35,533 LATER ON IN SOLAR SYSTEM HISTORY. 395 00:21:35,533 --> 00:21:37,267 Narrator: BUT FROM THIS STABLE ORBIT, 396 00:21:37,267 --> 00:21:42,267 JUPITER IS ABOUT TO TRIGGER A DEADLY DOMINO EFFECT 397 00:21:42,267 --> 00:21:45,767 THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY THE INFANT EARTH. 398 00:21:58,533 --> 00:22:00,567 Narrator: FOUR AND A HALF BILLION YEARS AGO, 399 00:22:00,567 --> 00:22:04,700 JUPITER ORBITS BETWEEN THE ROCKY INNER PLANETS 400 00:22:04,700 --> 00:22:08,200 AND THE ICY OUTER PLANETS. 401 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,400 FROM THIS STRATEGIC VANTAGE POINT, 402 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,900 THE GAS GIANT DOMINATES OUR PLANETARY SYSTEM 403 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:15,533 AND UNLEASHES HELL. 404 00:22:20,167 --> 00:22:22,933 Krauss: IN THE EARLY ENVIRONMENT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 405 00:22:22,933 --> 00:22:26,067 WHERE THERE WAS A LOT MORE JUNK SURROUNDING THE EARTH 406 00:22:26,067 --> 00:22:28,800 AND IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM, THE EARTH WAS BOMBARDED, 407 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,633 AS WERE ALL OTHER OBJECTS, AT AN INCREDIBLE RATE. 408 00:22:35,300 --> 00:22:39,300 Durda: IT'S AN INCREDIBLY VIOLENT TIME IN SOLAR SYSTEM HISTORY. 409 00:22:39,300 --> 00:22:42,833 WE REFER TO THAT TIMESCALE ABOUT SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION YEARS 410 00:22:42,833 --> 00:22:44,733 AFTER THE PLANETS ACTUALLY FORMED 411 00:22:44,733 --> 00:22:46,533 AS THE LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT. 412 00:22:53,433 --> 00:22:55,167 THESE WERE VERY LARGE-SCALE IMPACTS 413 00:22:55,167 --> 00:22:57,900 AND THEY ACTUALLY DO CREATE MELT POOLS -- 414 00:22:57,900 --> 00:23:01,067 LIQUID ROCK ON THE FLOORS OF THESE IMPACT CRATERS. 415 00:23:01,067 --> 00:23:03,533 AND SOME OF THOSE CRATERS CAN GLOW HOT 416 00:23:03,533 --> 00:23:06,067 FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS, 417 00:23:06,067 --> 00:23:08,433 IN SOME CASES. 418 00:23:08,433 --> 00:23:10,233 IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY ON THE EARTH AT THAT TIME, 419 00:23:10,233 --> 00:23:12,233 THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN ENORMOUS BALLS OF DUST 420 00:23:12,233 --> 00:23:14,400 CONTINUOUSLY THROWN INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. 421 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,433 THE SKY WOULD BE HAZY, CLOUDY, 422 00:23:16,433 --> 00:23:18,600 AND THE TERRAIN WOULD BE MOUNTAINOUS 423 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,600 FROM THE RIMS OF CRATERS ALL AROUND, ROCKY, 424 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:23,900 AND A WHOLLY UNPLEASANT PLACE TO BE. 425 00:23:36,067 --> 00:23:39,667 Narrator: TODAY, THE SCARS HAVE HEALED. 426 00:23:39,667 --> 00:23:44,167 GLACIERS ADVANCE AND RETREAT. 427 00:23:44,167 --> 00:23:46,600 VOLCANOES ERUPT. 428 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:50,600 WIND AND WATER ERASE OUR PLANET'S DUST. 429 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,167 BUT THE EVIDENCE IS STILL VISIBLE IF WE LOOK UP. 430 00:23:55,167 --> 00:23:56,300 Kaku: LOOK AT THE MOON. 431 00:23:56,300 --> 00:23:57,933 EVERY NIGHT, YOU SEE THE MOON COMING OUT, 432 00:23:57,933 --> 00:23:59,467 AND IT'S POCKMARKED, 433 00:23:59,467 --> 00:24:01,433 BECAUSE FOR ABOUT A BILLION YEARS 434 00:24:01,433 --> 00:24:05,067 AFTER THE SOLAR SYSTEM WAS FORMED, THERE WAS CHAOS. 435 00:24:08,533 --> 00:24:12,300 Narrator: IN 2011, NASA'S SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE 436 00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:17,400 REVEALS THIS KIND OF BOMBARDMENT AROUND ANOTHER STAR. 437 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,367 ASTRONOMERS SEE A VAST DISK OF GAS AND DUST 438 00:24:21,367 --> 00:24:25,233 CIRCLING A YOUNG STAR CALLED ETA CORVI. 439 00:24:25,233 --> 00:24:28,800 THIS MAY BE EVIDENCE OF ICY COMETS AND ASTEROIDS 440 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,467 SWARMING INTO ITS INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. 441 00:24:32,467 --> 00:24:33,967 FOUR BILLION YEARS AGO, 442 00:24:33,967 --> 00:24:37,067 THE SAME THING WAS HAPPENING IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 443 00:24:41,067 --> 00:24:44,100 Plait: THERE WAS A WAVE OF MATERIAL, ASTEROIDS AND COMETS, 444 00:24:44,100 --> 00:24:46,500 THAT SWEPT IN FROM THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM. 445 00:24:46,500 --> 00:24:49,767 IT TURNS OUT IT PROBABLY CAME FROM JUPITER AND SATURN, 446 00:24:49,767 --> 00:24:51,067 THE OUTER PLANETS. 447 00:24:51,067 --> 00:24:52,467 AS THEY WERE ORBITING THE SUN, 448 00:24:52,467 --> 00:24:54,667 THEY WERE INTERACTING WITH EACH OTHER GRAVITATIONALLY -- 449 00:24:54,667 --> 00:24:57,933 A VERY COMPLICATED DANCE. 450 00:24:57,933 --> 00:24:59,633 JUPITER GOES AROUND THE SUN THREE TIMES 451 00:24:59,633 --> 00:25:01,800 Walsh: EVERY TWO TIMES THAT SATURN DOES. 452 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:03,867 AND SO, WHEN THEY WOULD MIGRATE OUTWARDS, 453 00:25:03,867 --> 00:25:05,067 THEY'D BE LOCKED IN THIS RESONANCE. 454 00:25:05,067 --> 00:25:06,367 THEY'D BE VERY CLOSE TO EACH OTHER. 455 00:25:06,367 --> 00:25:08,867 AND AT SOME POINT, AS THEY WERE MOVING AROUND, 456 00:25:08,867 --> 00:25:11,833 THEIR GRAVITATIONAL POWERS BASICALLY COMBINED, 457 00:25:11,833 --> 00:25:14,333 GOT A LITTLE BIT BETTER AT AFFECTING THE MATERIAL 458 00:25:14,333 --> 00:25:16,567 AROUND THEM. 459 00:25:16,567 --> 00:25:19,200 Narrator: TOGETHER, THE TWO INNER GAS GIANTS 460 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,367 SLING THE TWO OUTER GAS GIANTS, URANUS AND NEPTUNE, 461 00:25:23,367 --> 00:25:26,433 EVEN FARTHER OUT. 462 00:25:26,433 --> 00:25:29,867 URANUS AND NEPTUNE SWAP PLACES. 463 00:25:33,433 --> 00:25:36,633 NEPTUNE SLAMS INTO THE FROZEN DUST AND GAS 464 00:25:36,633 --> 00:25:39,233 IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S OUTER REACHES, 465 00:25:39,233 --> 00:25:43,267 SCATTERING ICY DEBRIS FAR AND WIDE. 466 00:25:45,233 --> 00:25:46,600 IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM, 467 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,067 THIS DEBRIS COLLIDES WITH THE ASTEROID BELT. 468 00:25:50,067 --> 00:25:53,467 BILLIONS OF COMETS AND ASTEROIDS SWARM 469 00:25:53,467 --> 00:25:58,400 ACROSS THE ORBITS OF THE EARTH, MOON, AND OTHER INNER PLANETS. 470 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,300 Krauss: IF THAT HAD PERSISTED, 471 00:26:00,300 --> 00:26:03,067 THEN LIFE NEVER COULD HAVE EVOLVED. 472 00:26:03,067 --> 00:26:04,967 ONLY AFTER A FEW HUNDRED MILLION YEARS 473 00:26:04,967 --> 00:26:07,533 WAS IT POSSIBLE FOR LIFE ON EARTH TO DEVELOP. 474 00:26:12,533 --> 00:26:16,667 Narrator: BUT THIS DESTRUCTION CONTAINS THE SEEDS OF CREATION 475 00:26:16,667 --> 00:26:21,433 BECAUSE THE ICY COMETS DELIVER A PRECIOUS CARGO. 476 00:26:21,433 --> 00:26:23,733 Krauss: JUPITER PERIODICALLY DISTURBS 477 00:26:23,733 --> 00:26:26,600 OBJECTS IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM, LARGELY WATER OBJECTS, 478 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,300 AND DIRECTS THE TOWARDS THE EARTH. 479 00:26:28,300 --> 00:26:30,233 NOWADAYS, THAT WOULD BE A DISASTER, 480 00:26:30,233 --> 00:26:33,367 BUT IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT THE WATER ON EARTH, 481 00:26:33,367 --> 00:26:35,933 IT'S QUITE LIKELY THAT ALMOST ALL OF THE WATER ON EARTH 482 00:26:35,933 --> 00:26:39,167 THAT'S NOW HERE CAME FROM ICE THAT IMPACTED UPON THE EARTH, 483 00:26:39,167 --> 00:26:40,733 DIRECTED HERE BY JUPITER. 484 00:26:46,067 --> 00:26:50,333 Narrator: EVERY OCEAN, EVERY RIVER, 485 00:26:50,333 --> 00:26:54,700 EVERY DROP OF RAIN MAY OWE ITS EXISTENCE TO JUPITER. 486 00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:59,867 THE GAS GIANT MAY HAVE EVEN SOWED THE SEEDS OF LIFE ITSELF. 487 00:26:59,867 --> 00:27:01,367 THE CHEMICAL BUILDING BLOCKS 488 00:27:01,367 --> 00:27:06,333 OF LIFE MAY HAVE HITCHED A RIDE TO EARTH ON-BOARD A COMET. 489 00:27:06,333 --> 00:27:11,067 WITHOUT JUPITER, LIFE WOULD HAVE NEVER STARTED, 490 00:27:11,067 --> 00:27:13,567 AND IT WOULD HAVE NEVER SURVIVED. 491 00:27:15,633 --> 00:27:19,567 THE MAIN BOMBARDMENT ENDED 3.8 BILLION YEARS AGO, 492 00:27:19,567 --> 00:27:21,533 BUT A THREAT REMAINS. 493 00:27:21,533 --> 00:27:26,667 EVERY DAY, NASA'S NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS PROGRAM SCANS THE SKIES 494 00:27:26,667 --> 00:27:30,067 FOR POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ASTEROIDS AND COMETS. 495 00:27:30,067 --> 00:27:35,067 SO FAR, THEY'VE SPOTTED OVER 10,000. 496 00:27:35,067 --> 00:27:39,567 AND IT ONLY TAKES ONE TO CAUSE A CATASTROPHE. 497 00:27:39,567 --> 00:27:40,967 JUST THREE MILES WIDE, 498 00:27:40,967 --> 00:27:45,333 THIS SMALL COMET IS BIG ENOUGH TO WIPE OUT LIFE ON EARTH. 499 00:27:45,333 --> 00:27:48,933 LUCKILY, JUPITER IS IN THE WAY. 500 00:27:48,933 --> 00:27:50,300 Durda: JUPITER ACTS, IN A LOT OF WAYS, 501 00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:52,533 LIKE THE PROTECTOR OF THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM. 502 00:27:52,533 --> 00:27:54,667 BY SHEPHERDING COMETS IN ITS VICINITY, 503 00:27:54,667 --> 00:27:56,267 EJECTING THEM FROM THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 504 00:27:56,267 --> 00:27:59,400 JUPITER HELPS PROTECT THE EARTH ITSELF. 505 00:28:02,267 --> 00:28:04,933 IN A SENSE, THE WAY OBJECTS MOVE IN A SOLAR SYSTEM 506 00:28:04,933 --> 00:28:07,900 IS A LITTLE BIT LIKE A ROLLER DERBY. 507 00:28:07,900 --> 00:28:10,267 YOU'VE GOT ALL OF THESE OBJECTS MOVING AROUND THE SUN 508 00:28:10,267 --> 00:28:12,633 IN THE SAME DIRECTION, GOING AROUND AND AROUND AND AROUND. 509 00:28:12,633 --> 00:28:16,767 BUT THEY HAVE GRAVITY, AND THEY CAN INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER. 510 00:28:16,767 --> 00:28:18,433 Narrator: IMAGINE THIS SKATER IN WHITE 511 00:28:18,433 --> 00:28:23,767 IS AN ICY COMET RACING IN FROM THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM. 512 00:28:23,767 --> 00:28:27,867 THE SKATERS IN BLACK ARE THE GAS GIANTS. 513 00:28:27,867 --> 00:28:31,067 THE COMETS VEER ACROSS THE PLANETS' ORBITS 514 00:28:31,067 --> 00:28:34,700 UNTIL IT ENCOUNTERS JUPITER. 515 00:28:34,700 --> 00:28:37,900 JUPITER MOVES FASTER THAN THE COMET. 516 00:28:37,900 --> 00:28:40,400 THEN, THE GIANT PLANET'S GRAVITY 517 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:45,800 GRABS IT AND GIVES IT AN ASSIST IN A SLINGSHOT MANEUVER. 518 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,733 THE COMET STEALS SOME OF JUPITER'S MOMENTUM, 519 00:28:48,733 --> 00:28:53,467 ACCELERATES, AND CHANGES DIRECTION. 520 00:28:53,467 --> 00:28:55,767 JUPITER CAN FLING IT OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM 521 00:28:55,767 --> 00:28:57,467 BY GIVING IT THAT EXTRA VELOCITY, 522 00:28:57,467 --> 00:28:58,533 AND IT GOES AWAY. 523 00:28:58,533 --> 00:29:00,233 IT'S EJECTED. 524 00:29:00,233 --> 00:29:04,833 Narrator: JUPITER SLINGS OBJECTS OUT AND STANDS GUARD. 525 00:29:04,833 --> 00:29:08,500 EVERY YEAR, 200 TIMES MORE COMETS AND ASTEROIDS 526 00:29:08,500 --> 00:29:11,533 SMASH INTO JUPITER THAN THE EARTH. 527 00:29:11,533 --> 00:29:14,400 Kaku: SOMETHING HAD TO BE THERE LIKE A SHERIFF 528 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,767 TO CLEAN OUT ALL THE RIFFRAFF AND CLEAN OUT ALL THE DEBRIS, 529 00:29:17,767 --> 00:29:20,533 AND THAT'S THE PLANET JUPITER. 530 00:29:20,533 --> 00:29:23,900 IF IT WASN'T FOR JUPITER, RIGHT WHERE I'M STANDING, 531 00:29:23,900 --> 00:29:27,633 THERE MIGHT BE GIGANTIC METEOR IMPACT CRATER. 532 00:29:27,633 --> 00:29:30,200 WITHOUT JUPITER, MOST CERTAINLY, 533 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:31,967 WE WOULDN'T BE HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT. 534 00:29:34,067 --> 00:29:37,967 Narrator: OUR LIVES DEPEND ON JUPITER. 535 00:29:37,967 --> 00:29:40,500 Krauss: BECAUSE OF THE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT ROLE 536 00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:43,700 THAT JUPITER'S PLAYED IN THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE ON EARTH, 537 00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:45,200 WHEN WE LOOK AT EXOPLANETS, 538 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,500 WHEN WE LOOK FOR LIFE ELSEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE, 539 00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:51,067 WE MAY NOT NEED TO LOOK JUST FOR THOSE HABITABLE PLANETS. 540 00:29:51,067 --> 00:29:53,500 WE MAY NEED TO LOOK FOR JUPITERS OR OBJECTS 541 00:29:53,500 --> 00:29:57,500 LIKE THEM THAT HAVE SAVED THEM, AS JUPITER SAVED US. 542 00:30:00,033 --> 00:30:04,533 Narrator: JUPITER IS THE SECRET BEHIND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S SUCCESS. 543 00:30:07,700 --> 00:30:13,567 IT MAKES LIFE ON EARTH POSSIBLE AND HELPS PROTECT THAT LIFE. 544 00:30:13,567 --> 00:30:18,800 IT MAY EVEN NURTURE LIFE, ALIEN LIFE. 545 00:30:30,667 --> 00:30:32,600 Narrator: JUPITER DOMINATES ITS NEIGHBORHOOD 546 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:38,433 FOR MILLIONS OF MILES, LOOMING OVER AT LEAST 67 MOONS, 547 00:30:38,433 --> 00:30:39,567 FROM GANYMEDE, 548 00:30:39,567 --> 00:30:41,833 WHICH IS LARGER THAN THE PLANET MERCURY, 549 00:30:41,833 --> 00:30:44,567 TO A ROCK BARELY A MILE ACROSS. 550 00:30:44,567 --> 00:30:46,767 Durda: THE INNERMOST MOONS ARE MORE ROCKY RICH. 551 00:30:46,767 --> 00:30:48,833 THE OUTERMOST MOONS ARE MORE ICE RICH. 552 00:30:48,833 --> 00:30:50,333 SO, IN A LOT OF WAYS, 553 00:30:50,333 --> 00:30:52,267 A LITTLE MINIATURE SOLAR SYSTEM. 554 00:30:55,300 --> 00:30:58,233 Narrator: JUPITER IS A COSMIC PUPPET MASTER, 555 00:30:58,233 --> 00:31:01,967 CONTROLLING AND MANIPULATING ITS MOONS 556 00:31:01,967 --> 00:31:06,900 AND PERHAPS MAKING ONE OF THEM HOME TO LIFE. 557 00:31:06,900 --> 00:31:09,167 MARCH 1ST, 2007, 558 00:31:09,167 --> 00:31:14,600 NASA'S NEW HORIZONS PROBE FLIES PAST Io, 559 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,767 A MOON ROUGHLY THE SAME SIZE AS OUR OWN. 560 00:31:18,767 --> 00:31:20,400 Plait: Io IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING MOONS 561 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:21,567 IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 562 00:31:21,567 --> 00:31:23,867 AND NOT JUST BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE A PIZZA. 563 00:31:23,867 --> 00:31:25,800 IT'S COVERED WITH VOLCANOES. 564 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,900 IN FACT, THESE VOLCANOES, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, 565 00:31:27,900 --> 00:31:29,700 HAVE BEEN CONTINUOUSLY ERUPTING 566 00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:32,600 SINCE WE'VE BEEN OBSERVING Io WITH SPACE PROBES, 567 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:34,300 FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS. 568 00:31:39,567 --> 00:31:40,767 Narrator: THIS SMALL MOON 569 00:31:40,767 --> 00:31:44,800 IS THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S MOST VOLCANIC BODY, 570 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,767 WITH AT LEAST 400 ACTIVE VOLCANOES. 571 00:31:49,767 --> 00:31:53,200 TOGETHER, THEY PUMP OUT 100 TIMES MORE HEAT 572 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:54,967 THAN VOLCANOES ON EARTH. 573 00:31:57,667 --> 00:32:00,833 Durda: Io'S ORBIT IS ACTUALLY SLIGHTLY ECCENTRIC AROUND JUPITER. 574 00:32:00,833 --> 00:32:02,500 SOMETIMES, IT'S A LITTLE CLOSER TO JUPITER; 575 00:32:02,500 --> 00:32:05,933 SOMETIMES, A LITTLE FARTHER AWAY. 576 00:32:05,933 --> 00:32:08,067 AS THE GRAVITATIONAL FIELD CHANGES, 577 00:32:08,067 --> 00:32:10,367 Io'S BODY, THE STRUCTURE OF THE MOON ITSELF, 578 00:32:10,367 --> 00:32:13,533 IS TWISTED AND PULLED BACK AND FORTH. 579 00:32:13,533 --> 00:32:17,567 AND THAT HEAT THROUGH FRICTION, THE INTERIOR OF THE MOON, 580 00:32:17,567 --> 00:32:19,433 THAT HEAT BASICALLY MELTS IT, 581 00:32:19,433 --> 00:32:22,300 AND THAT ERUPTS THROUGH THE SURFACE AS VOLCANOES. 582 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,467 THE VOLCANOES ON Io ARE REALLY FASCINATING. 583 00:32:28,467 --> 00:32:30,133 THEY'RE EJECTING VAST QUANTITIES 584 00:32:30,133 --> 00:32:34,900 OF SULFUR DIOXIDE ABOVE THE SURFACE OF Io. 585 00:32:34,900 --> 00:32:37,333 IT'S SPLIT APART BY THE ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT 586 00:32:37,333 --> 00:32:39,867 FROM THE SUN INTO SULFUR IONS, OXYGEN IONS, 587 00:32:39,867 --> 00:32:41,100 AND THOSE IONS INTERACT 588 00:32:41,100 --> 00:32:45,667 WITH THE MAGNETIC FIELD OF THE PLANET JUPITER. 589 00:32:45,667 --> 00:32:48,533 Narrator: JUPITER'S MAGNETIC FIELD CARRIES CHEMICALS 590 00:32:48,533 --> 00:32:52,633 AND CHARGED PARTICLES AWAY FROM Io 591 00:32:52,633 --> 00:32:55,133 AND ONTO ITS NEIGHBORING MOON, EUROPA, 592 00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:59,900 MAKING THIS DISTANT, FROZEN WORLD 593 00:32:59,900 --> 00:33:03,167 ONE OF OUR BEST HOPES OF FINDING ALIEN LIFE. 594 00:33:05,633 --> 00:33:07,567 Plait: WHEN WE GOT UP CLOSE TO EUROPA WITH SPACECRAFT, 595 00:33:07,567 --> 00:33:09,867 WE SAW IT WAS COVERED IN CRACKS AND RIDGES, 596 00:33:09,867 --> 00:33:11,067 WHICH LOOKED VERY MUCH 597 00:33:11,067 --> 00:33:13,400 LIKE THE WAY ICE FLOES LOOK HERE ON EARTH. 598 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,800 AND IT TURNS OUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON. 599 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,633 WE KNOW, BECAUSE OF SEEING THE FLEXURE OF THE ICE 600 00:33:18,633 --> 00:33:21,267 AND THE CRACKS IN THE ICE ON THE SURFACE OF EUROPA 601 00:33:21,267 --> 00:33:23,600 THAT THERE'S PROBABLY A SUB-SURFACE OCEAN 602 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,300 DEEPER THAN THE DEEPEST OF EARTH'S OCEANS THERE 603 00:33:26,300 --> 00:33:28,067 ON THAT LITTLE ICY MOON. 604 00:33:33,733 --> 00:33:38,233 Narrator: JUPITER'S GRAVITY PUSHES AND PULLS EUROPA, 605 00:33:38,233 --> 00:33:40,933 CREATING FRICTION, 606 00:33:40,933 --> 00:33:45,800 GENERATING HEAT AND MELTING EUROPA FROM WITHIN. 607 00:33:48,067 --> 00:33:50,500 JUPITER IS SO FAR AWAY FROM THE SUN THAT IT'S NATURAL 608 00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:53,067 TO ASSUME THAT ANYTHING AROUND IT IS FROZEN. 609 00:33:53,067 --> 00:33:56,367 THE FACT THAT GRAVITY CAN HEAT SOMETHING UP ENOUGH 610 00:33:56,367 --> 00:33:59,233 TO PRODUCE LIQUID WATER IS PROFOUNDLY IMPORTANT. 611 00:33:59,233 --> 00:34:02,833 Plait: ALL OF THE INDICATIONS OF LIQUID WATER UNDER THE SURFACE 612 00:34:02,833 --> 00:34:04,100 HAVE BEEN INDIRECT -- 613 00:34:04,100 --> 00:34:06,900 THE WAY THE SURFACE LOOKS, THE RESURFACING OF IT. 614 00:34:06,900 --> 00:34:10,933 BUT VERY RECENTLY, WE GOT DIRECT EVIDENCE OF WATER 615 00:34:10,933 --> 00:34:14,367 UNDER THE SURFACE OF EUROPA IN THE FORM OF A GEYSER -- 616 00:34:14,367 --> 00:34:20,533 A PLUME OF WATER BEING EJECTED FROM THE SOUTH POLE OF THE MOON. 617 00:34:20,533 --> 00:34:22,767 Narrator: NOVEMBER 2013, 618 00:34:22,767 --> 00:34:26,067 ANALYZING PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 619 00:34:26,067 --> 00:34:31,767 SCIENTISTS SPOT TWO GIANT GEYSERS SPEWING WATER 124 MILES 620 00:34:31,767 --> 00:34:35,433 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE ABOVE EUROPA'S SOUTH POLE. 621 00:34:35,433 --> 00:34:37,100 IT'S THE BEST EVIDENCE YET 622 00:34:37,100 --> 00:34:41,567 OF LIQUID WATER BENEATH EUROPA'S FROZEN CRUST. 623 00:34:41,567 --> 00:34:44,800 Plait: SEEING DIRECT EVIDENCE OF LIQUID WATER ON EUROPA 624 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,567 IS TERRIBLY EXCITING. 625 00:34:46,567 --> 00:34:50,133 FINDING LIQUID WATER IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR FINDING BIOLOGY. 626 00:34:50,133 --> 00:34:52,967 WE DON'T KNOW THAT WHEREVER THERE'S WATER, THERE'S BIOLOGY, 627 00:34:52,967 --> 00:34:54,300 BUT WE'RE PRETTY SURE THAT WITHOUT IT, 628 00:34:54,300 --> 00:34:55,833 IT WOULD BE A LOT TOUGHER. 629 00:34:57,833 --> 00:34:59,067 Narrator: FOR LIFE TO EVOLVE, 630 00:34:59,067 --> 00:35:02,767 IT NEEDS WATER AND OTHER CHEMICALS. 631 00:35:02,767 --> 00:35:06,100 AND THAT'S WHERE JUPITER'S MAGNETOSPHERE COMES IN, 632 00:35:06,100 --> 00:35:08,733 THE NETWORK THAT TRANSPORTS CHEMICALS 633 00:35:08,733 --> 00:35:12,800 FROM VOLCANIC MOON Io TO EUROPA. 634 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,733 SCIENTISTS THINK THE MAGNETOSPHERE DELIVERS SULFUR, 635 00:35:15,733 --> 00:35:18,500 CARBON AND OTHER MINERALS, 636 00:35:18,500 --> 00:35:19,900 AND THAT ITS RADIATION 637 00:35:19,900 --> 00:35:24,067 SPLITS APART FROZEN WATER MOLECULES ON EUROPA'S SURFACE 638 00:35:24,067 --> 00:35:26,767 INTO HYDROGEN AND OXYGEN. 639 00:35:29,300 --> 00:35:32,067 FROM A BIOLOGY POINT OF VIEW, WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS 640 00:35:32,067 --> 00:35:34,767 THAT THERE'S INTERESTING STUFF BEING MADE ON THE SURFACE, 641 00:35:34,767 --> 00:35:37,967 AND IF THAT STUFF COULD GET CARRIED INTO THE OCEAN, 642 00:35:37,967 --> 00:35:39,567 ORGANISMS MIGHT APPRECIATE. 643 00:35:40,833 --> 00:35:44,167 Narrator: SO, EUROPA'S GEYSERS ARE A MAJOR DISCOVERY. 644 00:35:44,167 --> 00:35:47,700 Plait: ONE OF THE MORE EXCITING ASPECTS OF SEEING THIS GEYSER ON EUROPA 645 00:35:47,700 --> 00:35:49,633 IS IT MEANS THAT THE LIQUID OCEAN 646 00:35:49,633 --> 00:35:51,900 UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE HAS A WAY OF GETTING OUT, 647 00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:53,867 WHICH MEANS MAYBE THERE'S A WAY OF STUFF 648 00:35:53,867 --> 00:35:57,500 FROM THE SURFACE GETTING INTO THE OCEAN ITSELF. 649 00:35:57,500 --> 00:35:59,733 IT COULD BE THAT IN THIS OCEAN, 650 00:35:59,733 --> 00:36:05,867 THERE'S A NUTRIENT-RICH SUPPLY OF FOOD. 651 00:36:05,867 --> 00:36:07,300 Narrator: LIFE NEEDS WATER. 652 00:36:07,300 --> 00:36:11,800 IT NEEDS FOOD AND SOMETHING ELSE. 653 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:13,667 Plait: YOU ALSO NEED AN ENERGY SOURCE. 654 00:36:13,667 --> 00:36:15,300 ON THE EARTH, MOSTLY, THAT'S THE SUN. 655 00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:17,667 IT'S LIGHT COMING DOWN AND WARMING THE SURFACE. 656 00:36:17,667 --> 00:36:19,833 ON EUROPA, THOUGH, IF YOU'RE DEEP IN THAT OCEAN, 657 00:36:19,833 --> 00:36:21,833 IT'S PROBABLY PITCH BLACK. 658 00:36:24,533 --> 00:36:27,333 Narrator: BUT LIFE CAN EXIST WITHOUT THE SUN. 659 00:36:29,867 --> 00:36:31,500 Plait: IF YOU GO TO THE OCEAN FLOORS ON EARTH, 660 00:36:31,500 --> 00:36:34,467 THERE ARE PLACES WHERE THERE ARE VENTS, CRACKS IN THE CRUST, 661 00:36:34,467 --> 00:36:37,067 AND GASSES AND ALL SORTS OF NOXIOUS CHEMICALS 662 00:36:37,067 --> 00:36:40,667 ARE COMING UP, BUT THERE'S LIFE THERE. 663 00:36:40,667 --> 00:36:43,833 McKay: AN OCEAN THAT THERE COULD BE THIS FLOW OF NUTRIENTS 664 00:36:43,833 --> 00:36:47,467 FROM THE SUB-SURFACE INTO AN OXYGEN-RICH WATER 665 00:36:47,467 --> 00:36:50,433 AND LIFE LIVING AT THIS BOUNDARY BETWEEN THEM, 666 00:36:50,433 --> 00:36:52,767 THAT'S AN EXAMPLE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US 667 00:36:52,767 --> 00:36:57,067 OF HOW AN ECOSYSTEM COULD BE SHAPED THAT WAY. 668 00:36:57,067 --> 00:36:59,433 Plait: LIFE EVOLVES TO MATCH THE CONDITIONS 669 00:36:59,433 --> 00:37:01,200 IN WHICH IT FINDS ITSELF. 670 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,533 THE CONDITIONS UNDER THE SURFACE OF EUROPA 671 00:37:03,533 --> 00:37:05,433 ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THE CONDITIONS 672 00:37:05,433 --> 00:37:07,200 AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN HERE ON EARTH. 673 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,667 WE MAY FIND LIFE THERE, 674 00:37:09,667 --> 00:37:12,267 AND IF WE DO, IT MAY LOOK QUITE A BIT LIKE 675 00:37:12,267 --> 00:37:14,833 LIFE UNDER THE OCEAN HERE ON EARTH. 676 00:37:18,733 --> 00:37:21,567 Narrator: IF THERE IS LIFE BENEATH EUROPA'S SURFACE, 677 00:37:21,567 --> 00:37:23,467 IT MAY OUTLIVE US ALL. 678 00:37:25,433 --> 00:37:29,667 THIS INHOSPITABLE WORLD COULD BECOME A LAST REFUGE 679 00:37:29,667 --> 00:37:32,500 FOR LIFE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM, 680 00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:35,333 BECAUSE 5 BILLION YEARS FROM NOW, 681 00:37:35,333 --> 00:37:38,667 THE SUN IS DESTINED TO DIE. 682 00:37:51,633 --> 00:37:54,433 Narrator: JUPITER, MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLANET, 683 00:37:54,433 --> 00:37:56,900 HAS LEFT ITS MARK ON OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 684 00:37:56,900 --> 00:38:00,300 THE LARGEST PLANET WITH THE STRONGEST GRAVITY, 685 00:38:00,300 --> 00:38:05,100 IT SHAPED OUR PAST AND INFLUENCES OUR PRESENT. 686 00:38:05,100 --> 00:38:08,733 BUT THE PLANET'S FUTURE HANGS IN THE BALANCE. 687 00:38:08,733 --> 00:38:13,133 THE ULTIMATE FATE OF JUPITER MAY REST ON THE FATE OF THE SUN. 688 00:38:13,133 --> 00:38:15,233 AND IN 4 TO 5 BILLION YEARS, 689 00:38:15,233 --> 00:38:18,267 THE SUN WILL EXPAND TO BECOME A RED GIANT, 690 00:38:18,267 --> 00:38:22,267 PERHAPS EATING UP THE EARTH IN THE PROCESS. 691 00:38:22,267 --> 00:38:24,333 Mainzer: WE THINK THAT THE SUN'S OUTER LAYERS ARE GONNA 692 00:38:24,333 --> 00:38:27,267 EXPAND POSSIBLY EVEN TO THE ORBIT OF MARS. 693 00:38:27,267 --> 00:38:29,700 THE EARTH IS POSSIBLY GOING TO BE ENGULFED 694 00:38:29,700 --> 00:38:32,467 AND COMPLETELY DEVOURED BY THE EXPANDING SUN. 695 00:38:32,467 --> 00:38:34,133 AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, OF COURSE, 696 00:38:34,133 --> 00:38:35,767 IT'S GAME OVER FOR EARTH. 697 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:40,233 Narrator: FIVE BILLION YEARS FROM NOW, 698 00:38:40,233 --> 00:38:44,167 THE INNER ROCKY PLANETS WILL BURN UP. 699 00:38:44,167 --> 00:38:46,267 WILL JUPITER BE NEXT? 700 00:38:46,267 --> 00:38:48,767 Mainzer: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOMEBODY ORBITING AROUND JUPITER, 701 00:38:48,767 --> 00:38:51,867 THE SUN IS GOING TO TURN INTO THIS ANGRY, FIERY THING. 702 00:38:51,867 --> 00:38:53,167 AND YET, 703 00:38:53,167 --> 00:38:57,067 JUPITER ITSELF IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE RELATIVELY SAFE. 704 00:38:57,067 --> 00:38:58,600 IT MAY LOSE SOME OF ITS ATMOSPHERE, 705 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:00,067 BUT JUPITER'S A BIG PLANET. 706 00:39:00,067 --> 00:39:01,400 IT HAS PLENTY TO SPARE. 707 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:06,067 CLEARLY, THE REGION OF THE EARTH WILL BECOME UNINHABITABLE. 708 00:39:06,067 --> 00:39:08,167 BUT WHAT'S ALSO EQUALLY CLEAR IS 709 00:39:08,167 --> 00:39:10,567 THE REGIONS WE NOW THINK OF AS REMOTE, 710 00:39:10,567 --> 00:39:14,633 FAR AWAY, FROZEN, BECOME MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE. 711 00:39:17,100 --> 00:39:18,600 Plait: IT'LL BE WARMER, 712 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:20,467 SO ITS MOONS MIGHT ACTUALLY WARM UP. 713 00:39:20,467 --> 00:39:22,133 AND IT HAS ICY MOONS. 714 00:39:22,133 --> 00:39:25,600 RIGHT NOW, THEY'RE FROZEN WATER, BUT WITH THE WARM SUN 715 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,067 FOR MILLIONS OR TENS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS, 716 00:39:28,067 --> 00:39:30,067 THEY MAY ACTUALLY LIQUEFY. 717 00:39:30,067 --> 00:39:33,967 AND EUROPA MAY BECOME BASICALLY A GIGANTIC WATER DROPLET, 718 00:39:33,967 --> 00:39:37,600 A SELF-CONTAINED OCEAN ORBITING JUPITER. 719 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:39,333 IT'S AN AMAZING THOUGHT. 720 00:39:41,900 --> 00:39:44,667 Narrator: PERHAPS EUROPA WILL BE LIFE'S LAST, 721 00:39:44,667 --> 00:39:48,133 BEST REFUGE AS THE SUN DIES. 722 00:39:48,133 --> 00:39:51,133 Krauss: AS THE SUN EVOLVES, 723 00:39:51,133 --> 00:39:54,500 WILL THE MOONS OF JUPITER -- COULD IT BE 724 00:39:54,500 --> 00:39:58,367 THAT THEY BECOME THE PRIME PLACES 725 00:39:58,367 --> 00:40:02,133 THAT WE EITHER TRAVEL TO, OR PERHAPS, 726 00:40:02,133 --> 00:40:04,433 LIFE ONCE AGAIN BEGINS? 727 00:40:04,433 --> 00:40:07,900 Narrator: IN OUR DYING SOLAR SYSTEM, 728 00:40:07,900 --> 00:40:12,833 JUPITER'S MOONS MAY OFFER A SAFE HAVEN FOR LIFE. 729 00:40:12,833 --> 00:40:16,000 BUT JUPITER'S TIME IN THE SUN IS LIMITED. 730 00:40:23,433 --> 00:40:26,200 Mainzer: AFTER THE SUN UNDERGOES ITS DRAMATIC RED GIANT PHASE, 731 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,800 IT'S GOING TO COLLAPSE DOWN AND END ITS LIFE 732 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,033 ALMOST WITH A WHIMPER. 733 00:40:30,033 --> 00:40:31,833 IT WILL BECOME A WHITE DWARF. 734 00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:37,267 Kaku: YOU WOULDN'T EVEN BE ABLE TO SEE THE SUN 735 00:40:37,267 --> 00:40:39,100 FROM THE SURFACE OF JUPITER 736 00:40:39,100 --> 00:40:41,800 WHEN THE SUN UNDERGOES ITS FINAL STAGE 737 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:44,267 TO BECOME A PIECE OF NUCLEAR WASTE 738 00:40:44,267 --> 00:40:47,000 DRIFTING IN OUTER SPACE. 739 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:52,733 Narrator: JUPITER AND ITS MOONS WILL BECOME DARK ONCE MORE. 740 00:40:52,733 --> 00:40:54,667 Walsh: AS THE SUN EVOLVES INTO A WHITE DWARF, 741 00:40:54,667 --> 00:40:58,133 JUPITER WILL PROBABLY GO LARGELY UNAFFECTED. 742 00:40:58,133 --> 00:41:00,067 OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUN 743 00:41:00,067 --> 00:41:01,800 WON'T CHANGE ITS ORBIT VERY MUCH. 744 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:04,167 AND IT'S JUST GONNA KEEP TRUCKING ALONG AND CONTINUE 745 00:41:04,167 --> 00:41:08,133 TO ORBIT THAT OLD WHITE DWARF FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS. 746 00:41:08,133 --> 00:41:09,867 Narrator: JUPITER WILL LIVE ON, 747 00:41:09,867 --> 00:41:13,600 AND WITH IT, THE HOPE OF LIFE. 748 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,067 Mainzer: IF THERE'S LIFE UNDERNEATH THE ICE ON EUROPA 749 00:41:16,067 --> 00:41:18,733 SOMEWHERE IN THE OCEAN BENEATH THE SURFACE, 750 00:41:18,733 --> 00:41:22,067 IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IT COULD STILL CONTINUE, 751 00:41:22,067 --> 00:41:24,300 WARMED BY THE TIDAL FORCES FROM JUPITER 752 00:41:24,300 --> 00:41:28,933 EVEN AFTER THE SUN HAS MET ITS END AS A WHITE DWARF. 753 00:41:28,933 --> 00:41:30,900 Plait: THE THING IS EUROPA IS ALREADY 754 00:41:30,900 --> 00:41:32,567 A SHELL OF ICE WITH LIQUID WATER 755 00:41:32,567 --> 00:41:35,367 THAT DOESN'T REALLY NEED THE ENERGY FROM THE SUN. 756 00:41:35,367 --> 00:41:37,633 SO, IF THERE'S LIFE THERE, 757 00:41:37,633 --> 00:41:40,200 IT'S NOT GONNA CARE WHETHER THE SUN'S ALIVE OR DEAD. 758 00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:44,467 THEY ACTUALLY MIGHT OUTLIVE THE SUN ITSELF. 759 00:41:44,467 --> 00:41:46,767 Narrator: FIVE BILLION YEARS FROM NOW, 760 00:41:46,767 --> 00:41:49,767 JUPITER WILL TAKE CENTER STAGE. 761 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,733 Krauss: JUPITER DETERMINES MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLANET, 762 00:41:56,733 --> 00:41:58,933 HOW OUR SOLAR SYSTEM WORKS, 763 00:41:58,933 --> 00:42:03,500 MUCH AS A CONDUCTOR GOVERNS THE DYNAMICS OF AN ORCHESTRA. 764 00:42:03,500 --> 00:42:05,433 Narrator: AS WE UNLOCK THE PLANET'S SECRETS, 765 00:42:05,433 --> 00:42:07,133 WE'RE DISCOVERING JUPITER 766 00:42:07,133 --> 00:42:10,400 IS THE KEY TO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM'S SUCCESS. 767 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:11,700 WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A PLANET 768 00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:15,267 THAT DOMINATES THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM, 769 00:42:15,267 --> 00:42:17,867 WHOSE GRAVITY DETERMINES THE VERY STRUCTURE 770 00:42:17,867 --> 00:42:21,300 OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM ITSELF, 771 00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:26,600 A PLANET WHOSE EVOLUTION HELPED TO CLEAN OUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 772 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:28,067 SO, WE SEE THAT THE PAST 773 00:42:28,067 --> 00:42:31,300 AND THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON JUPITER. 774 00:42:33,967 --> 00:42:35,333 Narrator: JUPITER HAS BEEN HERE 775 00:42:35,333 --> 00:42:38,267 SINCE THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S EARLIEST DAYS, 776 00:42:38,267 --> 00:42:42,867 AND IT'LL BE HERE AT THE END. 777 00:42:42,867 --> 00:42:48,567 CREATOR, PROTECTOR, NURTURER, AND SURVIVOR, 778 00:42:48,567 --> 00:42:52,267 JUPITER SHAPED THE SOLAR SYSTEM THAT WE SEE TODAY 779 00:42:52,267 --> 00:42:58,300 AND MAKES LIFE POSSIBLE ON EARTH AND PERHAPS BEYOND.