If Jupiter Disappeared So Would Life on Earth

jupiter's gravity shattered a huge comet it wasn't enough for the space monster a real catastrophe happened the sharks didn't fly in different directions they lined up and rushed towards jupiter like the rail cars of a train 21 fragments up to one mile in diameter burst through jupiter's atmosphere fireballs at the speed of 37 miles per second bombarded the planet's shell they heated the space around them to 50 000 degrees fahrenheit it's higher than the temperature in the sun's upper atmosphere and 312 times hotter than you need to boil an egg well i'm not hungry anymore the impact was like from a rock falling into a pond the meteorite fragments form giant plumes on the surface of jupiter substances from its lower atmosphere rushed upwards the process generated a tremendous amount of energy overheated streams of fire shot into the stratosphere the monsters left behind them glowing plumes 1900 miles long that's greater than the distance between new york and texas dark bruises appeared at the side of the blows they were about the size of the earth comet shoemaker levy 9 was the name of the violator of jupiter's boundaries the collision of celestial bodies happened in july 1994 it was a scientific sensation for the first time in human history a catastrophe of this magnitude was observed the attack raised an important question for astronomers why is jupiter unlucky space monsters attack it thousands of times more often than the earth or any other planet in the solar system alright let's see you decide to board a starship and travel to the mysterious jupiter a space probe would need two years to get there but your starship is faster you'll be there in great the journey only took a second jupiter is actually big it could fit 1300 earth-sized planets in it it looks beautiful thanks to gas clouds this planet has no solid surface but there's a strange stain on its surface it looks like a huge eye that can fit three and a half earths this storm will scare anyone it's 10 times higher than everest and the wind rushes at a speed of 300 miles per hour it's been going on for 350 years you wouldn't hide from such a storm in a car so it's good you're in the starship if all the planets of the solar system merged into one super planet the new object would still be two and a half times smaller than jupiter large size also affects gravity spacecraft use jupiter as a springboard to jump the giant's gravity increases their flight speed and helps them reach their target faster gravity has turned the planet into a magnet for comets asteroids and dangerous space debris jupiter is a true space superhero its gravity shield takes a hit and deflects space monsters that fly into the inner solar system the dinosaurs don't agree but more on that a little bit later what if jupiter was swallowed up by a giant vacuum cleaner tomorrow i can only say one thing we'd have huge problems without a giant shield thousands of comets and asteroids are attacking the planet much more often most of them burn up in the atmosphere or aren't large enough to affect us but there are also larger comets in asteroids after their collision with the earth you can say goodbye to all life on the planet for example in 2009 a celestial body crashed into jupiter it left a bruise the size of the pacific ocean it's scary to think what traces it would leave on our planet most likely the earth would turn into a fireball but recent research from astronomers suggests that jupiter isn't such a nice god on the contrary it's a bad guy with a slingshot that shoots comets at the earth a physicist used computer simulations he found that jupiter is equally likely to deflect and send comets toward the earth the giant attracts potentially dangerous objects and only partially protects us it's already tried to knock out our planet many times 66 million years ago a cosmic body 10 miles in size crashed into the earth the energy of the impact set the surface of the planet on fire it caused a huge earthquake and tsunami a fiery rain fell from the sky on the earth there were millions of tons of debris and dust in the atmosphere they stopped the sun's rays from reaching the planet the nuclear winter began this disaster led to the extinction of the dinosaurs scientists have named this space criminal cheek shalom impactor computer simulations of scientists at harvard university showed where it came from chichalub wasn't an asteroid but a comet this means that the core of its body wasn't stone and metal but ice dust and frozen gas it resembled a dirty snowball flying through space the meteorite wasn't going to set fire to the earth but jupiter intervened in the plan it threw comets in our direction in 1770 lexel's comet appeared near the earth our planet and this object were separated by only 1.4 million miles close to nothing in space terms lexel's comic came closer to earth than any other comet in human history the object could have stopped life on earth the comet flew too close to jupiter the giant caught it and sent it in our direction now this isn't a very good move for a superhero that protects the solar system after three years the comet went past us it flew two times around the sun and returned to jupiter like a boomerang this time the giant pushed the comet out of the solar system but let's not blame jupiter scientists believe that without this gas giant life on earth would most likely never have happened jupiter sent meteorites toward earth which carried organic molecules and water with them they were the building blocks from which earthly life began nobody knows if comets would come with a valuable cargo without jupiter and its dangerous gravity if you fly away from earth to the center of the solar system you'll see the sun eight planets are flying around this star there's a belt of more than one million asteroids between mars and jupiter one theory says there was only the sun at the very beginning of the solar system's existence clouds of stone and dust surrounded the star these particles attracted each other and formed planets over millions of years jupiter didn't want any new neighbors its powerful gravity prevented rocks and dust from uniting into planets they remained asteroids and gathered in a belt inside the solar system if today all the asteroids merged into one planet we'd get a cosmic body that would weigh only four percent of the mass of the moon previously the belt was densely populated but jupiter's gravity through 99 of the asteroids to other places in space jupiter isn't the only one that plays a role in the development of life on earth our main assistant is the moon it's the only natural satellite of the earth jupiter has 79 satellites and every year there are more and more of them jupiter is also surrounded by rings but they aren't as beautiful as saturn's and are practically invisible the rings are composed of small black particles this is the dust that the meteorites eject into space after colliding with the moons of jupiter the moon is responsible for the ebb and flow of the ocean it regulates the life of bees fish birds and amphibians even you feel the influence of the moon every day changing the brightness of the disk in the night sky regulates the level of melatonin in your brain this hormone is responsible for circadian rhythms which are important for healthy sleep the moon came about thanks to another catastrophe like many other things in space millions of years ago the earth looked like a ball of hot lava there was no water or air it was enveloped only in carbon dioxide and nitrogen at this time another planet the size of modern mars crashed into the earth scientists named it thea at a speed of 8 900 miles per hour it collided with the earth the impact of incredible force through millions of tons of material into space the debris gathered into a ball that became known as the moon scientists have almost solved the mystery of the moon but they don't know if there's a solid core in the middle of jupiter or if it's dense hot soup that hangs in space jupiter has the largest ocean in the solar system it's made of liquid hydrogen not water if jupiter were 80 times more massive it would turn into a bright star jupiter is a unique place that will never be home to humans the pressure inside the planet is two million times greater than on the surface of the earth extreme pressure and temperature would ruin any spacecraft that's gone too far i guess that means jupiter would have a crush on you

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 383,032

Keywords: bright side, brightside, facts about space, facts about space and planets, facts about space and the universe, facts about space and stars, facts about space and the solar system, facts about space bright side, good news, bright side space facts, outer space, the universe, mind blowing facts about space, beautiful facts about space, facts about space in english, Jupiter saves Earth, how Jupiter saves our planet, giant planets, planets collide, how planets fuse

Id: FKcERxgrVOc

Length: 8min 35sec (515 seconds)

Published: Mon May 31 2021