WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Could Jupiter Have Water After All?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with a classic podcast episode.

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<v Speaker 1>This one is about the question of whether there's water

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<v Speaker 1>on Jupiter and the history of trying to figure that out.

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<v Speaker 1>Since this episode aired, NASA and its partners have started

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<v Speaker 1>receiving data back from the James Web Space Telescope, including

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<v Speaker 1>some observations of Jupiter that may give us a more

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<v Speaker 1>definitive answer than ever. But while that data is being processed,

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<v Speaker 1>here's what we know for now, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogebom Here. Many mysteries hide beneath Jupiter's beautifully chaotic clouds,

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<v Speaker 1>But with the help of some clever astronomical techniques and

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<v Speaker 1>NASA's Juno spacecraft, one of the giant planet's biggest puzzles

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<v Speaker 1>may be closer than ever to being solved. As we know,

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<v Speaker 1>water is the key to life on Earth. Our efforts

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<v Speaker 1>therefore to seek out life on other worlds hinges on

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<v Speaker 1>the detection of this import compound. Though scientists don't think

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<v Speaker 1>that life inhabits Jupiter, finding a Jovian reservoir is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the most pressing issues in planetary science. Locating this

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<v Speaker 1>water would help us understand how the Solar System and

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<v Speaker 1>Jupiter itself evolved. Unfortunately, Jupiter has been notoriously unhelpful at

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<v Speaker 1>revealing any water deep in its thick atmosphere, leaving scientists

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<v Speaker 1>and their models of planetary formation high and dry. Before

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<v Speaker 1>we sent spacecraft to investigate Jupiter, scientists assumed the gas

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<v Speaker 1>giant would contain copious amounts of H two O. The

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<v Speaker 1>logic was simple. Earth is covered in the wet stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's lots of water in the various moons that

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<v Speaker 1>orbit the giant planets. Therefore, Jupiter, the most massive and

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<v Speaker 1>most gravitationally dominant planet in the Solar System, must have

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<v Speaker 1>trapped the lion's share of our Solar System's water as

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<v Speaker 1>it formed billions of years ago. That logic was shattered

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<v Speaker 1>in when NASA's Galileo mission dropped a probe into the

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<v Speaker 1>planet's atmosphere to measure its composition. Much to everyone's surprise,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a punishing lack of water. But the Galileo

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<v Speaker 1>probe may not have detected water simply because it wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>dropped in the right place. It could be as if

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<v Speaker 1>the probe parachuted over a desert on Earth. It's not

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<v Speaker 1>that there's no water on Earth. It's just the deserts

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<v Speaker 1>aren't known for being awash with the stuff. Jupiter's atmosphere

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<v Speaker 1>is dynamic with jet stream storms in a non homogeneous composition.

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<v Speaker 1>The probe could only sample the atmosphere it was traveling

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<v Speaker 1>through in that one location, and that location might have

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<v Speaker 1>been as dry as a desert. The situation changed, however,

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<v Speaker 1>when researchers used the powerful W. M. Keck Observatory and

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<v Speaker 1>NASA Infrared Telescope facility on Hawaii's Mona Kea to stare

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<v Speaker 1>deep into Jupiter's biggest storm, the Great Red Spot. They

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<v Speaker 1>released their water filled news in an August study published

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<v Speaker 1>in the Astrophistical Journal and led by Gordon L. Bulaker

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<v Speaker 1>of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Br Aker said in

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<v Speaker 1>a NASA statement, the moons that orbit Jupiter are mostly

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<v Speaker 1>water ice, so the whole neighborhood has plenty of water.

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<v Speaker 1>Why wouldn't the planet, which is this huge gravity well

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<v Speaker 1>where everything falls into it, be water rich too. To investigate,

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<v Speaker 1>Bureaker's team measured the infrared radiation leaking from deep beneath

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<v Speaker 1>the clouds. Specifically, they studied the infrared absorption spectrum of

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<v Speaker 1>a certain type of methane, which is known to exist

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<v Speaker 1>in a vapor throughout the planet. This infrared radiation should

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<v Speaker 1>leak through the clouds unimpeded, but should any water vapor

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<v Speaker 1>clouds be present, this radiation would be blocked. During analysis

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<v Speaker 1>of observations from Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the researchers found

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<v Speaker 1>three distinct cloud layers were blocking this infrared signal from

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<v Speaker 1>passing through the atmosphere, thus agreeing with the theoretical predictions

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<v Speaker 1>for the presence of water rich clouds. They also detected

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<v Speaker 1>large quantities of carbon monoxide, suggesting that there's lots of

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<v Speaker 1>oxygen available in Jupiter's atmosphere to chemically bond with molecular

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<v Speaker 1>hydrogen to form water if the temperature and pressure is

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<v Speaker 1>just right. The next step will be to use these

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<v Speaker 1>data to complement the Juno spacecraft's observations of Jupiter. JUNO

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<v Speaker 1>can make spectroscopic observations even deeper into Jupiter's atmosphere, and

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<v Speaker 1>it will do so for the entire planet, not just

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<v Speaker 1>the Great Red Spot. But should JUNO also detect this

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<v Speaker 1>possible water cloud layer. The techniques developed by Buelreaker's team

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<v Speaker 1>using telescopes on Earth will have been proven effective at

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<v Speaker 1>finding water deep inside Jupiter, thereby solving the gas giants

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<v Speaker 1>watery mystery, and these techniques could then be used to

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<v Speaker 1>probe deep into the atmospheres of other planets like Saturn, Uranus,

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<v Speaker 1>or Neptune without having to send a probe into them.

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<v Speaker 1>NASA named the Juno Mission, by the way, after the

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<v Speaker 1>Roman goddess Juno, who was married to Jupiter and had

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<v Speaker 1>the handy ability to see through clouds. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article the Great Red Spot may expose

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<v Speaker 1>Jupiter's watery secret on how stuff works dot com, written

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<v Speaker 1>by Ian O'Neill. Brain Stuff is production of I heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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