WEBVTT - How Does Jupiter Work? 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:08.719 Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey Brainstuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:14.960 the planet Jupiter has superlatives despair. We'd expect nothing less 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.919 from a giant planet named after a mythic king of 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:22.279 the gods. Not only is Jupiter the largest planet in 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.520 our Solar system, but it also spins at the fastest rate. 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.080 This massive planet is a world where the days may 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:32.760 be short, but giant storms can rage on for centuries. 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:38.559 So today let's talk about Jupiter. The fifth planet from 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.400 our Sun, has an equatorial diameter of about eighty nine 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.560 thousand miles or one hundred and forty three thousand kilometers. 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:47.919 Were Jupiter a hollow shell, you could fit more than 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:51.880 one thousand, three hundred earths inside of it. For its 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.120 huge size, its mass is only around three hundred and 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:58.320 eighteen times that of Earth, but that's still two and 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.280 a half times as massive as all all of the 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:05.399 other planets in our Solar system combined. Still, next to 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:09.520 the Sun, Jupiter looks puny. Our star accounts for ninety 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:11.679 nine point eight percent of all of the mass in 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.720 our Solar system, Jupiter included. Nevertheless, Jupiter is large enough 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.440 to affect the Sun in ways that Earth never could. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:23.760 Jupiter doesn't orbit the Sun's center like all of the 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.600 other planets. Instead, Jupiter orbits a spot in empty space 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:33.920 just outside of the Sun's surface. Oh why, Okay, technically 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.760 everything in the Solar System does exert gravity on everything else. 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:41.200 The term for the center of mass between any two 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.200 or more bodies is their Berry center. And now every 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.960 other planet is so much less massive than the Sun 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.120 that we barely tug on it. Our berry center with 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:55.760 the Sun is within the Sun. But Jupiter is so 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.160 big that it affects how the Sun moves too, so 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:02.120 it's Berry center with the Sun is a little outside 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:06.000 of the Sun. Jupiter's gargantuine bulk gives the Sun a 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.720 slight but noticeable wobble. This is good to know, because 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:13.160 if scientists ever detect that kind of wobble in a 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.000 far off star, it could mean that a Jupiter sized 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:21.280 planet is in its orbit. But size isn't the only 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:25.760 thing setting Earth and Jupiter apart. Compositionally, our planets are 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:30.679 totally different. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are all terrestrial 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.919 or rocky planets, a meaning that they have hard, rocky 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:39.240 surfaces with a relatively thin gaseous atmosphere. Underneath the surface, 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.840 layers of liquid and solid rock and metals make up 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:48.639 their cores. Jupiter is a gas giant, which means lacks 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.560 a solid surface and has an overwhelmingly thick gaseous atmosphere. 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:57.760 For its part, Jupiter's two main ingredients are hydrogen and helium, 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:01.880 though smaller quantities of metaane, ammonia, and water have also 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:06.960 been detected. Since it doesn't have a hard crust, scientists 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.440 define Jupiter's surface as the outer layer at which its 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:15.960 atmospheric pressure equals that of Earth. Far below this external area, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:20.440 there's a layer dominated by molecular hydrogen. Beneath that you'll 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:24.239 find a level whose primary component is liquid metallic hydrogen, 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:28.200 a material reminiscent of the liquid mercury we find on Earth. 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.320 The core at Jupiter's very center has inspired a lot 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:37.200 of debate. Some astronomers have argued that there's no solid 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.880 core at all, that Jupiter formed from gas and dust alone, 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:45.680 or that any core once had eroded slowly over millions 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:50.320 and billions of years. A data collected by NASA's Juno 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.560 spacecraft tells us that there probably is a core, but 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.480 we still don't know what it's made of. Our best 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.920 guesses are rock and ice, as it seems less dense, 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.800 and Earth's iron and nickel based in our core. The 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.080 Juno mission, which entered Jupiter's orbit on July fourth of 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.400 twenty sixteen, was the first to get below the planet's 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:15.760 clouds and send back detailed information about Jupiter's atmosphere and 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.919 its moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, plus more data on 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:25.240 how our Solar system formed. But let's talk more about 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:29.799 Jupiter's so called surface. The planet has stripes or bands 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.640 of color running around it from top to bottom, in 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.280 shades of white to gray to reddish brown, each swirling 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:42.200 with storms. Amazingly, neighboring bands of swirls move in opposite directions. 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.520 Astronomers call the darker ones belts, while their lighter counterparts 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:52.479 have been dubbed zones. Jupiter's stripes and swirls are windy 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.160 clouds of ammonia and water floating in that gaseous atmosphere 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:01.200 of hydrogen and helium. Variations in chemistry, trans its, parency, shape, 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:07.159 and or temperature might explain the color differences. Tempests riddle 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:11.000 the gas giant a far south of Jupiter's equator, there's 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:15.919 a series of oval shaped storms that rotate counterclockwise, being 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.320 whitish in coloration, and set off because they're moving through 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:23.960 darker bands. These are nicknamed the String of Pearls. Since 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.120 nineteen eighty six, the number of Pearl storms has varied 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:32.440 from six to nine. Even better known is the Great 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.320 Red Spot, closer to the equator than the Pearls, a 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.320 giant storm with a crimson tint. It's made up of 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:42.000 winds that whirl at a rate of some two hundred 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.599 and seventy miles an hour that's four hundred and thirty 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:49.240 kilometers an hour. Although researchers think that the giant storm 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:53.360 may be shrinking, its current dimensions are still highly impressive. 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.400 At over ten thousand miles wide, that's more than sixty 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.640 thousand kilometers, the Great Red Spot is large enough to 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:05.800 envelope our entire planet. It's caught between two powerful jet streams, 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:07.760 one to the east and one to the west, that 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.960 keep it more or less in place. Astronomers have been 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.360 keeping a constant eye on the storm since eighteen thirty. Therefore, 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.880 we know that at minimum, it's more than one hundred 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:24.559 and ninety earth years old. Its longevity may have something 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.040 to do with Jupiter's rotational orbit, that is, the length 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.000 of its days. Here on Earth, we complete a new 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:34.120 spin around Earth's axis once every twenty four hours, no 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.960 matter where on the planet we reside. But since Jupiter 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:42.320 is largely gaseous, some of its latitudinal regions rotate faster 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.240 than others do. At Jupiter's poles, a day lasts for 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:50.600 nine hours and fifty six minutes. Meanwhile, places near Jupiter's 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:55.200 equator see brisk nine hour fifty minute days. Jupiter has 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.080 the shortest days of all the planet in this solar system. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.920 Of course, Jupiter's infamous storms aren't its only feature. It 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:10.040 also boasts rings and a plethora of moons. Yep Like Saturn, Uranus, 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.920 and Neptune, Jupiter also has rings, albeit less dramatic ones. 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:20.520 NASA's Voyager one spacecraft discovered Jupiter's rings in nineteen seventy nine. 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.400 They're so faint that they're practically invisible from Earth's surface. 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.520 The most visible one is bright and thin, only about 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:32.880 twenty miles thick in some places that's about thirty kilometers. 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.680 One inside and two outside of it are thicker and 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:41.200 much less defined. Data sent back by the Galileo spacecraft 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.520 show that they might have formed when dust from interplanetary 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:50.920 meteoroids smashed into Jupiter's moons, which the planet has. As 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.960 we said, a lot of No less than ninety five 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:59.680 known moons are currently orbiting this gas giant. Jupiter's four 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.600 large moons were the first moons discovered beyond Earth. These 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:08.520 are the four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:12.280 Ganymede is the biggest. It's actually the biggest moon in 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.680 the Solar System and is larger than the planet Mercury, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.560 a fitting jewel in the crown of this planetary giant. 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.400 But these moons aren't just beautiful. They may help us 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.680 learn about the possibility of sustaining life beyond our own 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:32.120 little blue planet. In particular, Europa may be geologically active 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:35.280 under its crust, and it seems to even contain an 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.880 ocean of liquid water under its frozen surface, meaning it's 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.720 possible that there are places on Europa that could support 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.680 life as we know it. NASA researchers are launching a 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.000 spacecraft called Europa Clipper on October tenth of twenty twenty 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.040 four to conduct dozens of flybys of the Moon and 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.640 help us learn more about its icy shell, the ocean underneath, 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.559 and its geology and inner makeup to follow along with 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.200 its cherney, which will take several years. Because space is big. 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:12.079 You can go to Europa dot NASA dot gov. Today's 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.920 episode is based on the article Jupiter, Anatomy of a 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:18.239 gas Giant on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Mark Mancini. 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.360 Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.439 Stuffworks dot com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.439 more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.440 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.