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Liftoff of Messenger on
NASA's mission to Mercury.
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Beyond the inner solar system,
past the asteroid belt...
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...lies Jupiter.
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The largest of the planets is a giant
swirling ball of gas...
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...its marbled appearance generated by
violent winds
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that rage through its clouds.
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Jupiter is a world as strange
as it is remote.
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If you fly upwards
only about 100 kilometres or so,
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you reach the edge of our atmosphere
and the blackness of space -
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it's really not that far.
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But once you're in space,
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the distance scales
are incomprehensible.
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Venus, the closest planet,
is over 40 million kilometres away,
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Jupiter around 650 million kilometres.
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It takes our fastest spacecraft
years to get there.
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So the idea that those planets
could have any influence
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on us here on Earth seems fanciful,
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and, indeed, if you're talking about your
chances of meeting a handsome stranger,
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or your life plans requiring a moderate
reconfiguration about a week on Wednesday,
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then you would be right.
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However, if you ask more profound
questions, deeper questions,
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like, why is the Earth
the way that it is,
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why is there life on Earth,
why do we exist at all,
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then it turns out that the planets,
and Jupiter in particular,
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have had a profound effect.
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Early in its life, the young Jupiter
went on the rampage.
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The giant planet embarked on a voyage of
destruction across the solar system...
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...that transformed
the destiny of the planets
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and the course of life on Earth.
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Jupiter is the godfather
of the planets.
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Understand it, and you understand
how the solar system came to be.
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On Earth, we can see glimpses
of Jupiter's power
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in the scars it's left
on the face of the planet.
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This is the famous
Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona.
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It is about a kilometre across,
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170 metres from the rim
to the crater floor,
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and it was created about 50,000 years ago
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when a meteorite 50 metres across
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entered the Earth's atmosphere travelling
at about 13 kilometres per second.
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That means it would have taken around,
what, seven seconds
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to go from the top of the atmosphere
to the ground.
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And it hit with such force
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that the energy released
was equivalent to ten megatons of TNT.
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And that is a very large nuclear bomb.
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The meteorite that hit the Earth here
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is thought to have come from
the asteroid belt...
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...the ring of rocky debris
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that orbits at the edge of the
inner solar system.
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And it was deflected from its orbit
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most likely by the gravitational
influence of Jupiter.
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Jupiter is a completely different
class of planet to the Earth.
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A gas giant.
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A swirling ball of hydrogen and helium
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so large you could fit
1,300 Earths inside.
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Jupiter can exert such a powerful
influence on the asteroids
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because it's so massive -
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it's about two-and-a-half times the mass
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of all the other planets, moons and
asteroids in the solar system combined,
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and therefore it has
a strong gravitational pull.
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And this means that
Jupiter exerts an influence
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across the entire solar system that's
second only to the Sun.
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And that influence does far more
than create the odd crater.
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It can change the history of worlds.
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To understand how Jupiter rose
to such dominance,
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you have to go back to a time before
the solar system even existed.
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Nearly five billion years ago,
a distant exploding star
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sent a shockwave across the galaxy...
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...causing the cloud of gas and dust
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that would become our solar system
to collapse...
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...as the Sun began to form.
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But further out,
something else was growing.
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After 50 million years...
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...the Sun's nuclear furnace ignited...
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...the light of its first dawn
revealing Jupiter...
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...the solar system's first world.
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A planet born so early,
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it swept up most of the material left over
from the formation of the Sun.
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Because of its dominance,
Jupiter had a profound effect
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on the newly forming solar system,
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and paved the way
for our living world to form.
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This is a model of our solar system.
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So here's the Sun, and then
we have the four inner rocky planets -
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Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
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Then comes the asteroid belt,
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the ring of millions of small pieces
of rock orbiting around the Sun.
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And then the gas giants -
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
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Now this has a sort of pleasing
regular structure about it,
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all the rocky planets close to the star,
and the gas giants further out,
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and we thought this must be
the natural order of things,
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the way that solar systems
have to form,
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until we started to detect planets
around distant stars,
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and then we found that this arrangement
is not typical at all.
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Our sun is just one of around 300 billion
stars in our galaxy.
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And almost every one of those stars is
home to its own system of planets.
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In most other systems, the region where
our planet orbits is empty.
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Instead, closer to the star,
we see super-Earths -
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vast rocky planets
many times bigger than our own.
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But, crucially, these worlds are thought
to have thick, toxic atmospheres,
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making them completely
inhospitable to life.
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And that raises
a very interesting question -
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why, then, is our solar system
the way that it is?
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To answer that question,
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we've sent spacecraft
to every one of the planets.
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And they've uncovered strange anomalies
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that reveal our solar system's past.
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Our missions to Venus found that
it once had far more water
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than you'd expect for a planet
so close to the Sun,
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just as Earth does today.
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The spacecraft we've sent to Mars
touched down on a world that is,
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curiously, just half the size of
her sister planets, Earth and Venus.
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And in the asteroid belt,
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we've uncovered
a graveyard of failed worlds,
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their growth mysteriously cut short.
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To cause all these anomalies,
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it's thought something catastrophic
must have happened
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very early in the solar system's history.
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All the evidence suggests
that around 4.5 billion years ago,
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Jupiter's orbit began to change,
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triggering a period of
unprecedented violence
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which completely transformed
the face of the young solar system,
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and we know this
because the marauding planet
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left a trail of destruction in its wake.
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Early in its life, Jupiter began to move
inwards towards the Sun.
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And the effects of that journey
can be seen to this day.
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In between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
lies the asteroid belt...
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...a desolate wasteland of debris
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left over from the beginning
of the solar system.
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Rocky bodies too small to be
planets in their own right.
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In science-fiction films,
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the asteroid belt is often depicted
as an un-navigable mass
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of tumbling rubble,
but it's not like that at all.
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So much so, in fact,
that modern spacecraft engineers
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can fly a spacecraft through
without making any course corrections.
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And the reason for that is, there's
not much mass in the asteroid belt.
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The sum total of all of them is
only about 4% the mass of the Moon,
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and they're spread out in a huge ring
out beyond the orbit of Mars.
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It's a vast amount of space.
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That means that the average distance
between any two large asteroids
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is about eight times the distance between
the Earth and the Moon.
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So I could stand on one of those
large asteroids and look out into space
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and my nearest neighbour
would just be a dim star in the dark.
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But scattered amongst the rubble
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are objects that are far more
than mere rocks.
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Five, four, three, two,
main engines start, one,
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zero, and liftoff of the Delta II rocket
with Dawn.
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In 2007, NASA's Dawn Mission
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was sent to explore the two largest
objects in the asteroid belt.
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After a year in orbit
around the giant asteroid Vesta...
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...in March 2015,
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Dawn made its final approach
on a body so large
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it makes up almost a third of the mass
of the entire asteroid belt.
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Ceres.
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On arrival, the first images
Dawn sent back to Earth
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contained something entirely unexpected.
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Mysterious bright patches
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in one of Ceres's largest craters.
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Spectral analysis of the images
showed the patches were, in fact,
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the salty residue
left behind by liquid water...
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...suggesting there must be large amounts
of ice just beneath the crust.
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Dawn went on to discover over 300
bright spots all over the surface.
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And this means
that beneath its thin crust,
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Ceres has a thick, ice-rich mantle
surrounding its rocky core...
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...evidence that the dwarf planet is
made up of multiple layers.
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The interior of Ceres is like
nothing else in the asteroid belt.
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The differentiation,
that separation into layers,
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observed by Dawn is more characteristic
of a planet than an asteroid.
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So, 4.5 billion years ago,
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Ceres was well on its way to becoming
a fully fledged world.
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It's thought that, in its infancy,
Ceres was very different.
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The water that now lies frozen
within its interior was once liquid.
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Protected beneath a thin layer of ice...
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...Ceres was once covered by
a deep saltwater ocean.
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Before Ceres had
reached its full potential,
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a great disturbance
sent shockwaves through
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what would one day
become the asteroid belt
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and cut its development short.
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As Jupiter circled the young sun,
it started to clear a path
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through the gas and dust that shrouded
the early solar system.
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But that process
caused it to do something alarming.
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Gravitational interactions with the gas
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made the giant planet spiral inwards
towards the sun...
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...ploughing straight through
the region of space
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that would become the asteroid belt...
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...scattering the material from which
Ceres would otherwise have grown.
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Computer simulations of the
early solar system
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suggest that the asteroid belt
once contained enough material
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to build a planet the size of the Earth,
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and perhaps that was Ceres's destiny.
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But when Jupiter passed through,
it scattered 99.9% of the material away,
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and Ceres's fate was sealed.
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Within 100 million years,
Ceres's ocean froze
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and was buried beneath its crust...
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...the young planet's development
cut short
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00:21:03,460 --> 00:21:05,929
before it could fulfil its promise.
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00:21:18,540 --> 00:21:21,738
But Jupiter's reign of terror
was far from over.
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It would continue its journey inwards
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00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:34,213
towards the place our planet
was beginning to form...
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00:21:36,860 --> 00:21:39,659
...threatening the very existence
of Earth.
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00:21:45,140 --> 00:21:48,929
Jupiter had such an overwhelming effect
on the young solar system
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00:21:49,060 --> 00:21:52,292
because of its powerful
gravitational field...
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00:22:11,340 --> 00:22:14,538
...the effects of which
we can still witness today.
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00:23:09,140 --> 00:23:12,212
Jupiter exerts its influence
across the solar system
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00:23:12,340 --> 00:23:13,820
through its gravitational field...
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00:23:22,900 --> 00:23:26,132
...which is by far the most powerful
of all the planets',
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because Jupiter is the most massive
of all the planets -
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00:23:29,260 --> 00:23:33,140
it's about 320 times
the mass of the Earth.
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00:23:33,260 --> 00:23:36,014
That's why it was
so destructive in the past.
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And we see the power of
that gravitational field today
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00:23:39,820 --> 00:23:44,815
in its influence on the closest
of Jupiter's largest moons, Io.
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00:23:58,260 --> 00:24:01,537
Io is the most volcanic world
in the solar system...
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00:24:06,700 --> 00:24:10,535
...its surface covered with
hundreds of active volcanoes...
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00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:18,251
...and lakes of molten lava.
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00:24:24,260 --> 00:24:27,332
The largest, known as Loki Patera,
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00:24:27,460 --> 00:24:30,658
is more than 200 kilometres in diameter...
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00:24:39,620 --> 00:24:43,500
...a million times the area of any
lava lake on Earth...
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00:24:45,340 --> 00:24:48,936
...its surface tormented by
waves of molten rock.
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00:25:01,820 --> 00:25:03,777
Io is a vision of hell...
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00:25:09,380 --> 00:25:12,930
...created by the Moon's
proximity to Jupiter.
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00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:33,659
Volcanism here on Earth
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is powered by the internal heat
down below the surface.
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00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:42,053
Now, much of that is residual heat
left over from the Earth's formation
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4.5 billion years ago -
about half of it -
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and the other half is down to radioactive
decay of elements around the Earth's core.
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Now, on Io, it's different.
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Io is a much smaller world and so
it didn't retain much residual heat,
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00:25:58,900 --> 00:26:02,655
so there the volcanoes
are powered by a different process.
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It's known as tidal heating.
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00:26:11,820 --> 00:26:14,574
The energy that drives Io's volcanism
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00:26:14,700 --> 00:26:17,499
doesn't come from heat stored
within the Moon.
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00:26:20,940 --> 00:26:22,772
It's generated by gravity...
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00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:29,455
...because Io orbits
just 350,000 kilometres
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00:26:29,580 --> 00:26:32,573
from the tops of Jupiter's clouds.
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00:26:48,780 --> 00:26:52,490
Io orbits at about the same distance
from Jupiter
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00:26:52,620 --> 00:26:54,771
as our moon orbits the Earth,
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00:26:54,900 --> 00:26:57,256
but because Jupiter
is so much more massive,
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Io goes around much more quickly.
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00:26:58,980 --> 00:27:02,212
In fact, it goes around
once every 42 hours.
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00:27:02,340 --> 00:27:06,732
Now, if Io were Jupiter's only moon,
that orbit would be circular.
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But it isn't.
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00:27:11,980 --> 00:27:15,576
The next moon out, Europa,
goes round Jupiter
241
00:27:15,700 --> 00:27:18,932
precisely once
for every two orbits of Io...
242
00:27:23,220 --> 00:27:28,420
...which means that every second orbit,
Io and Europa fall into alignment.
243
00:27:30,300 --> 00:27:33,179
It's what's known as
an orbital resonance.
244
00:27:35,180 --> 00:27:37,695
That gives it a gravitational kick,
245
00:27:37,820 --> 00:27:40,733
and that moves Io's orbit into an ellipse.
246
00:27:40,860 --> 00:27:43,580
Now, that means that
the gravitational forces on Io
247
00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:46,659
are constantly shifting and changing,
248
00:27:46,780 --> 00:27:49,375
and that stretches and squashes
the moon
249
00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:52,095
and heats it up by friction,
250
00:27:52,220 --> 00:27:54,257
and that is called tidal heating,
251
00:27:54,380 --> 00:27:57,896
and that is the origin of Io's volcanoes.
252
00:28:10,220 --> 00:28:13,770
This process raises the temperature
in Io's interior -
253
00:28:13,900 --> 00:28:16,699
which would otherwise be frozen solid -
254
00:28:16,820 --> 00:28:19,654
to more than 1,000 degrees Celsius...
255
00:28:21,900 --> 00:28:23,539
...creating its lava lakes...
256
00:28:27,020 --> 00:28:29,694
...and powering immense volcanic plumes...
257
00:28:32,660 --> 00:28:36,813
...that rise up to 300 kilometres from
the moon's surface...
258
00:28:38,340 --> 00:28:39,933
...and out into space.
259
00:28:45,100 --> 00:28:48,810
Io provides the solar system
with a vivid reminder...
260
00:28:50,180 --> 00:28:52,058
...of the giant planet's power.
261
00:29:06,620 --> 00:29:09,738
Jupiter's intense gravitational field...
262
00:29:11,900 --> 00:29:15,257
...is the source of Io's volcanism today,
263
00:29:15,380 --> 00:29:18,612
but we don't feel that gravitational pull
here on Earth
264
00:29:18,740 --> 00:29:20,971
because Jupiter is so far away.
265
00:29:21,100 --> 00:29:23,535
But 4.5 billion years ago,
266
00:29:23,660 --> 00:29:28,177
Jupiter was migrating inwards towards
the inner solar system,
267
00:29:28,300 --> 00:29:32,135
approaching the region
where Mars and Earth were forming.
268
00:29:37,940 --> 00:29:41,172
After passing through what would become
the asteroid belt...
269
00:29:43,580 --> 00:29:46,300
...Jupiter entered
the inner solar system...
270
00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:54,776
...continuing its journey
spiralling towards the Sun.
271
00:30:02,740 --> 00:30:06,495
Back then, the area where Mars
and Earth orbit today
272
00:30:06,620 --> 00:30:09,294
was densely packed with gas and rock.
273
00:30:17,420 --> 00:30:21,937
But as Jupiter approached,
it wrought havoc...
274
00:30:23,540 --> 00:30:26,339
...scattering the rocky material
in all directions.
275
00:30:29,580 --> 00:30:32,140
Some sent careering into the Sun...
276
00:30:41,260 --> 00:30:44,697
...others thrown out
into interstellar space.
277
00:30:52,180 --> 00:30:56,811
And it's this that may explain
our solar system's unusual structure.
278
00:30:59,660 --> 00:31:01,970
Here's the solar system today. The Sun,
279
00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:03,819
the four inner rocky planets,
280
00:31:03,940 --> 00:31:05,659
the asteroids and Jupiter,
281
00:31:05,780 --> 00:31:07,692
and what we think may have happened
282
00:31:07,820 --> 00:31:11,609
is Jupiter made it inwards,
through where the asteroids are,
283
00:31:11,740 --> 00:31:14,209
as far in as the orbit of Mars.
284
00:31:14,340 --> 00:31:16,900
Now, that would have cleaned out
quite a lot of the material
285
00:31:17,020 --> 00:31:21,412
in the inner solar system,
leaving less for the formation of planets.
286
00:31:21,540 --> 00:31:25,329
And that's why we don't see
super-Earths in our solar system,
287
00:31:25,460 --> 00:31:31,013
those big, massive rocky worlds that we
see in orbit around so many other stars.
288
00:31:31,140 --> 00:31:34,895
This also might explain
why Mars is so small.
289
00:31:35,020 --> 00:31:39,094
See, if Jupiter was orbiting
in the region that Mars was forming,
290
00:31:39,220 --> 00:31:42,736
there would have been much less
material here, and that might explain
291
00:31:42,860 --> 00:31:48,060
why Mars is only a tenth of the mass
of Venus and Earth.
292
00:31:58,300 --> 00:32:00,940
Had Jupiter continued to move inwards,
293
00:32:01,060 --> 00:32:03,973
it would have had a similar effect
on the Earth...
294
00:32:05,940 --> 00:32:09,536
...meaning the world we inhabit
might never have formed.
295
00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:19,571
But just as it looked like Jupiter would
sweep everything away...
296
00:32:20,780 --> 00:32:24,251
...something stopped the giant planet
in its tracks.
297
00:32:31,260 --> 00:32:34,970
Because in the shadows of
the outer solar system
298
00:32:35,100 --> 00:32:36,693
another planet was forming.
299
00:32:42,020 --> 00:32:44,580
The solar system's second gas giant...
300
00:32:46,820 --> 00:32:48,095
...Saturn.
301
00:33:00,580 --> 00:33:03,254
And its birth changed everything.
302
00:33:07,740 --> 00:33:10,812
When a planet forms in a disc of material
around a star,
303
00:33:10,940 --> 00:33:13,853
as Jupiter did in our solar system,
304
00:33:13,980 --> 00:33:17,860
it tends to clear out a gap in the disc.
305
00:33:17,980 --> 00:33:21,690
Now, the material tends to fall inwards
towards the star -
306
00:33:21,820 --> 00:33:25,700
it's called accretion -
and that drags the whole thing inwards,
307
00:33:25,820 --> 00:33:27,857
and that's what happened to Jupiter.
308
00:33:27,980 --> 00:33:31,610
But then a less massive planet, Saturn,
309
00:33:31,740 --> 00:33:36,098
formed further out.
It cleared out its own disc
310
00:33:36,220 --> 00:33:39,611
and it too fell inwards towards the Sun,
311
00:33:39,740 --> 00:33:42,335
but more quickly than Jupiter.
312
00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:45,897
That meant that Saturn
got into a resonance with Jupiter.
313
00:33:46,020 --> 00:33:51,493
It went round once in orbit around the Sun
for every two orbits of Jupiter.
314
00:33:51,620 --> 00:33:57,173
And that has the effect of cleaning out
the whole region between the two planets.
315
00:33:57,300 --> 00:34:02,694
And that has the effect, through a series
of complicated gravitational interactions,
316
00:34:02,820 --> 00:34:05,335
of slowing and stopping the infall
317
00:34:05,460 --> 00:34:10,057
and eventually causing the two planets
to move back out again.
318
00:34:10,180 --> 00:34:15,175
And that is what happened to Jupiter
and Saturn in our solar system.
319
00:34:23,460 --> 00:34:26,453
Saturn caused Jupiter to retreat,
320
00:34:26,580 --> 00:34:31,291
leaving behind just enough material
from which the inner planets could form.
321
00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:36,135
Mercury.
322
00:34:38,820 --> 00:34:40,334
Venus.
323
00:34:43,300 --> 00:34:44,620
Mars.
324
00:34:50,780 --> 00:34:53,614
And our home, the Earth.
325
00:35:00,300 --> 00:35:03,816
By preventing the formation of
much larger super-Earths,
326
00:35:03,940 --> 00:35:06,535
Jupiter allowed our planet to grow.
327
00:35:21,540 --> 00:35:25,216
And even as Jupiter's reign of terror
was drawing to a close...
328
00:35:26,620 --> 00:35:31,251
...it provided one last parting gift
to our world.
329
00:35:45,020 --> 00:35:48,696
The young Earth formed in an arid region
of the inner solar system.
330
00:35:48,820 --> 00:35:51,619
There was very little water
that close to the Sun.
331
00:35:51,740 --> 00:35:53,618
But as the Earth was forming,
332
00:35:53,740 --> 00:35:56,858
Jupiter was already
tacking back outwards again
333
00:35:56,980 --> 00:36:01,213
into the outer solar system, through the
region that we now call the asteroid belt,
334
00:36:01,340 --> 00:36:06,574
a region populated by many icy,
water-rich comets and asteroids.
335
00:36:06,700 --> 00:36:09,534
And they were scattered
back inwards again,
336
00:36:09,660 --> 00:36:12,778
bringing water back
into the inner solar system.
337
00:36:12,900 --> 00:36:14,971
So I think it is
quite a wonderful thought,
338
00:36:15,100 --> 00:36:19,811
that Earth is a water world today
because of the motion inwards
339
00:36:19,940 --> 00:36:23,616
and then back outwards again
of the massive planet Jupiter.
340
00:36:30,100 --> 00:36:35,698
This idea does seem quite contrived,
almost fantastical.
341
00:36:35,820 --> 00:36:39,097
But the more we learn
about the formation of solar systems
342
00:36:39,220 --> 00:36:42,736
and the more we try to model
a system like ours
343
00:36:42,860 --> 00:36:46,615
with four terrestrial, water-rich planets
close to the star
344
00:36:46,740 --> 00:36:48,936
and then the gas giants further out,
345
00:36:49,060 --> 00:36:53,816
the more we learn that
perhaps all these things had to happen,
346
00:36:53,940 --> 00:36:57,934
these unlikely movements
and interactions between the planets,
347
00:36:58,060 --> 00:37:03,977
in order to produce a system like ours
and a planet like ours.
348
00:37:04,100 --> 00:37:08,379
So places like this
may be extremely rare.
349
00:37:23,620 --> 00:37:27,011
Today, Jupiter has settled into
a regular orbit,
350
00:37:27,140 --> 00:37:30,053
back beyond the far edge
of the asteroid belt...
351
00:37:33,180 --> 00:37:37,015
...its days of marauding
through the solar system at an end.
352
00:38:20,620 --> 00:38:25,297
Jupiter has been established in a stable
orbit for almost 4 billion years.
353
00:38:25,420 --> 00:38:28,413
If I was to sit here on Earth
3.8 billion years ago,
354
00:38:28,540 --> 00:38:31,453
when life began,
and look up into the night sky,
355
00:38:31,580 --> 00:38:34,891
I would have seen it shining there
as a point of light,
356
00:38:35,020 --> 00:38:36,852
the same as it looks today,
357
00:38:36,980 --> 00:38:39,449
distant and seemingly detached,
358
00:38:39,580 --> 00:38:42,379
and it's remained that way for the
vast expanse of time
359
00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:45,413
it's taken for evolution
by natural selection
360
00:38:45,540 --> 00:38:51,172
to transform those first
populations of organisms into all this,
361
00:38:51,300 --> 00:38:56,932
to transform the Earth into an oasis
of life in the desert of the solar system.
362
00:39:07,260 --> 00:39:10,651
But Jupiter's influence over the Earth
remains to this day.
363
00:39:15,780 --> 00:39:19,171
And that's because,
despite its great distance from us...
364
00:39:21,020 --> 00:39:24,457
...it retains a vice-like grip
over the asteroid belt.
365
00:39:39,860 --> 00:39:42,853
It's easy, and I think quite natural,
to think of the asteroid belt
366
00:39:42,980 --> 00:39:47,179
as a single structure, so a ring of rock
surrounding the Sun.
367
00:39:47,300 --> 00:39:49,292
But that's not what it's like at all.
368
00:39:49,420 --> 00:39:53,972
In reality, each one of those millions
and millions of pieces of rock
369
00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:56,774
is following its own individual orbit,
370
00:39:56,900 --> 00:40:03,136
and this remarkable animation is made up
of ten years of astronomical observations,
371
00:40:03,260 --> 00:40:07,254
and every point you see on this animation
372
00:40:07,380 --> 00:40:12,136
is a single asteroid, apart from
all the planets, and so you see
373
00:40:12,260 --> 00:40:15,139
Earth and Mars and Venus
whizzing around the Sun,
374
00:40:15,260 --> 00:40:18,936
but the interesting one is Jupiter,
375
00:40:19,060 --> 00:40:22,019
orbiting just outside the asteroid belt.
376
00:40:23,460 --> 00:40:28,740
And what you can see is that the
asteroid belt dances to Jupiter's tune.
377
00:40:28,860 --> 00:40:31,329
It's the conductor of the asteroid belt,
if you like.
378
00:40:31,460 --> 00:40:33,850
There are complex patterns here,
379
00:40:33,980 --> 00:40:35,733
but there's also structure.
380
00:40:37,660 --> 00:40:41,051
And the reason for that
is the delicate interplay
381
00:40:41,180 --> 00:40:43,695
between the gravitational pull of the Sun
382
00:40:43,820 --> 00:40:46,699
and the gravitational force from Jupiter.
383
00:40:48,380 --> 00:40:52,056
Now, what can happen is that,
perhaps because of an interaction
384
00:40:52,180 --> 00:40:54,854
between two asteroids -
perhaps they collide with each other,
385
00:40:54,980 --> 00:40:58,337
or perhaps on their orbit
they line up perfectly with Jupiter
386
00:40:58,460 --> 00:41:00,338
and get an extra gravitational kick -
387
00:41:00,460 --> 00:41:03,532
those asteroids can be disturbed
from this structure
388
00:41:03,660 --> 00:41:06,220
and be sent inwards
to the inner solar system.
389
00:41:06,340 --> 00:41:08,172
And by that mechanism,
390
00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:14,092
Jupiter has a profound influence
on the planets closer to the Sun.
391
00:41:23,940 --> 00:41:25,932
Around 100 million years ago,
392
00:41:26,060 --> 00:41:30,976
an asteroid ten kilometres across was
ejected from the asteroid belt.
393
00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:38,131
Dislodged by Jupiter's gravity,
394
00:41:38,260 --> 00:41:41,776
it was set on a collision course
with the Earth.
395
00:42:00,460 --> 00:42:04,852
When it struck,
it generated a fireball so hot,
396
00:42:04,980 --> 00:42:10,374
anything within a 1,000-kilometre radius
would have died instantly.
397
00:42:18,740 --> 00:42:24,498
The impact threw 300 billion tonnes
of sulphur into the atmosphere.
398
00:42:33,020 --> 00:42:36,218
And during the nuclear winter
that followed,
399
00:42:36,340 --> 00:42:41,415
75% of all species
were wiped from the face of the Earth.
400
00:42:49,540 --> 00:42:54,740
In one fell swoop, Jupiter changed the
course of our planet's history.
401
00:43:06,740 --> 00:43:09,414
There are a few places on Earth today
402
00:43:09,540 --> 00:43:12,578
where you can catch
a glimpse of lost worlds -
403
00:43:12,700 --> 00:43:16,455
you can see Earth as it was millions
of years in the past
404
00:43:16,580 --> 00:43:19,857
and perhaps glimpse
the Earth as it might have been.
405
00:43:19,980 --> 00:43:21,539
And this is one of them.
406
00:43:21,660 --> 00:43:25,620
Today, this is the Colorado Plain,
over a kilometre in altitude,
407
00:43:25,740 --> 00:43:28,699
south of Denver,
close to the Rocky Mountains.
408
00:43:28,820 --> 00:43:32,416
But 200 million years ago,
this was at sea level.
409
00:43:32,540 --> 00:43:37,376
It was an ancient lake,
and the ghosts of those lost worlds,
410
00:43:37,500 --> 00:43:40,060
the imprint of the past,
can be seen over there,
411
00:43:40,180 --> 00:43:44,652
because there are literally thousands
of dinosaur footprints.
412
00:44:10,420 --> 00:44:13,413
And here they are -
the dinosaur footprints.
413
00:44:13,540 --> 00:44:16,260
I find this absolutely remarkable.
414
00:44:16,380 --> 00:44:19,214
This is the footprint of
a sauropod dinosaur -
415
00:44:19,340 --> 00:44:22,970
that's one of the big ones,
the big herbivores with the long necks.
416
00:44:23,100 --> 00:44:25,899
This animal would have weighed
about 30 tonnes.
417
00:44:26,020 --> 00:44:29,411
It was tall enough to peer over
a two-storey house.
418
00:44:29,540 --> 00:44:33,090
And what happened here is probably
a herd of them, a group of them,
419
00:44:33,220 --> 00:44:36,452
came lumbering across this lake bed.
420
00:44:36,580 --> 00:44:38,970
And then, perhaps that same afternoon,
421
00:44:39,100 --> 00:44:41,934
predators came,
maybe following the herd.
422
00:44:42,060 --> 00:44:44,655
And that's these footprints here -
423
00:44:44,780 --> 00:44:47,932
the allosaurs,
these three-toed footprints.
424
00:44:48,060 --> 00:44:51,292
A much smaller animal,
maybe about twice the height of me,
425
00:44:51,420 --> 00:44:53,810
about two tonnes, very nimble and agile.
426
00:44:53,940 --> 00:44:59,174
And so you see a whole story
played out here, frozen in time.
427
00:45:13,380 --> 00:45:16,578
Today, just their traces remain.
428
00:45:21,660 --> 00:45:23,253
But were it not for Jupiter...
429
00:45:25,300 --> 00:45:27,417
...they might still be here.
430
00:45:44,700 --> 00:45:46,578
There are so many chance events,
431
00:45:46,700 --> 00:45:49,454
not only throughout
the history of Earth,
432
00:45:49,580 --> 00:45:53,460
but also spanning the entire history of
the universe for 13.8 billion years,
433
00:45:53,580 --> 00:45:56,175
without which we wouldn't exist.
434
00:45:56,300 --> 00:45:58,132
There's an unbroken chain of life
435
00:45:58,260 --> 00:46:00,855
stretching back 4 billion years
here on this planet.
436
00:46:00,980 --> 00:46:06,135
You interrupt or interject at any point,
and life on Earth is different.
437
00:46:06,260 --> 00:46:10,413
But having said that,
there are major events that affected life,
438
00:46:10,540 --> 00:46:13,772
and one of them is the asteroid
that wiped out the dinosaurs.
439
00:46:13,900 --> 00:46:18,736
And in that sense, it is certainly true
to say that without Jupiter,
440
00:46:18,860 --> 00:46:20,340
we wouldn't be here.
441
00:46:36,980 --> 00:46:41,577
The godfather of the planets
paved the way for us to inherit the Earth.
442
00:46:47,420 --> 00:46:51,812
And although it occasionally flings rocks
from the asteroid belt our way,
443
00:46:51,940 --> 00:46:54,819
it also protects us.
444
00:47:01,260 --> 00:47:03,536
Because for objects
heading towards the Earth
445
00:47:03,660 --> 00:47:06,334
from the far reaches of the solar system,
446
00:47:06,460 --> 00:47:10,454
Jupiter's gravitational field
acts as a shield.
447
00:47:15,660 --> 00:47:21,418
Around a century ago, a lump
of rock and ice four kilometres across
448
00:47:21,540 --> 00:47:24,260
and weighing 17 billion tonnes...
449
00:47:26,020 --> 00:47:28,580
...was hurtling towards
the inner solar system.
450
00:47:33,620 --> 00:47:36,419
Until Jupiter intervened.
451
00:47:39,540 --> 00:47:44,410
Five, four, three, two, one.
452
00:47:44,540 --> 00:47:46,975
We have ignition and liftoff of Atlantis
453
00:47:47,100 --> 00:47:50,696
and the Galileo spacecraft
bound for Jupiter.
454
00:47:50,820 --> 00:47:52,573
70 years later,
455
00:47:52,700 --> 00:47:56,535
we witnessed just how effective a shield
Jupiter can be...
456
00:48:06,260 --> 00:48:11,938
...on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis,
the Galileo orbiter.
457
00:48:21,300 --> 00:48:23,656
Three years after Galileo launched,
458
00:48:23,780 --> 00:48:28,093
comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
had been captured by Jupiter's gravity.
459
00:48:37,940 --> 00:48:40,694
Locked in the giant planet's embrace...
460
00:48:43,020 --> 00:48:45,854
...tidal forces
now began to tear it apart.
461
00:48:53,460 --> 00:48:55,611
Its journey cut short,
462
00:48:55,740 --> 00:48:58,300
the comet now faced annihilation.
463
00:49:10,060 --> 00:49:12,291
After crossing the inner solar system,
464
00:49:12,420 --> 00:49:15,572
Galileo passed through
the asteroid belt...
465
00:49:19,060 --> 00:49:23,293
...approaching the spot from where it
would witness the comet's final moments.
466
00:49:33,660 --> 00:49:39,054
On July 16th, Galileo saw
the first fragments of the comet
467
00:49:39,180 --> 00:49:41,615
enter Jupiter's southern hemisphere.
468
00:49:54,100 --> 00:49:56,171
Pieces of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
469
00:49:56,300 --> 00:49:59,054
struck Jupiter
over the course of six days.
470
00:50:03,660 --> 00:50:08,098
It was the first time a comet strike
had ever been witnessed.
471
00:50:28,540 --> 00:50:30,497
The most destructive impact
472
00:50:30,620 --> 00:50:34,899
released energy equivalent to
6 million megatons of TNT...
473
00:50:37,020 --> 00:50:42,095
...leaving behind a giant dark cloud
12,000 kilometres across.
474
00:50:51,500 --> 00:50:55,779
By capturing objects
and incinerating them on impact,
475
00:50:55,900 --> 00:50:59,689
Jupiter sweeps up bodies
from the outer solar system
476
00:50:59,820 --> 00:51:02,540
that might otherwise collide with Earth.
477
00:51:16,140 --> 00:51:20,498
Jupiter, the oldest
and largest of the planets,
478
00:51:20,620 --> 00:51:23,419
is the godfather of our solar system.
479
00:51:27,580 --> 00:51:31,176
In youth, it went on the rampage.
480
00:51:39,980 --> 00:51:43,018
For some young planets,
it spelled disaster.
481
00:51:48,300 --> 00:51:50,974
But for others, like our own world,
482
00:51:51,100 --> 00:51:53,979
it cleared the way for their formation.
483
00:52:02,140 --> 00:52:06,692
And in adulthood, it created
the conditions that allowed us to rise.
484
00:52:11,580 --> 00:52:14,732
So we owe Jupiter a great debt.
485
00:52:16,460 --> 00:52:19,532
But as the dinosaurs found to their cost,
486
00:52:19,660 --> 00:52:23,415
it's a debt that could be recalled
at any time.
487
00:52:28,460 --> 00:52:29,689
To the naked eye,
488
00:52:29,820 --> 00:52:32,858
Jupiter's one of the brightest
points of light in the night sky,
489
00:52:32,980 --> 00:52:36,894
and through a small telescope
it is a beautiful banded world.
490
00:52:37,020 --> 00:52:39,979
But it feels distant, eternal,
491
00:52:40,100 --> 00:52:43,616
disconnected from events here on Earth.
492
00:52:43,740 --> 00:52:47,017
But the more we've understood
about the history of the solar system,
493
00:52:47,140 --> 00:52:49,974
the more we've come to understand that
that is not the case.
494
00:52:50,100 --> 00:52:54,538
Jupiter has played an important
and perhaps decisive role
495
00:52:54,660 --> 00:52:58,051
in the stories of all the planets,
including Earth.
496
00:52:58,180 --> 00:53:00,217
You see, the solar system is just that.
497
00:53:00,340 --> 00:53:05,415
It's a system - complex,
interconnected and interdependent.
498
00:53:05,540 --> 00:53:11,172
So next time you see Jupiter, just
hold your gaze, maybe think for a minute,
499
00:53:11,300 --> 00:53:15,340
because it is so much more than
just a point of light,
500
00:53:15,460 --> 00:53:16,814
or a planet, even.
501
00:53:16,940 --> 00:53:20,172
It is the great sculptor
of the solar system.
502
00:53:20,300 --> 00:53:23,338
The destroyer and creator of worlds.
503
00:54:04,820 --> 00:54:07,892
I think people are drawn in by Jupiter
504
00:54:08,020 --> 00:54:09,932
because it's very mysterious,
505
00:54:10,060 --> 00:54:13,053
it's covered by
clouds that hide what's underneath.
506
00:54:13,180 --> 00:54:14,500
It's very violent.
507
00:54:16,300 --> 00:54:18,531
And it's very intimidating.
508
00:54:20,380 --> 00:54:23,259
It's also very beautiful.
509
00:54:23,380 --> 00:54:27,977
It has all these things going on,
and it's hard not to be taken in.
510
00:54:28,100 --> 00:54:32,936
T minus ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five...
511
00:54:33,060 --> 00:54:35,734
Such is Jupiter's mystique,
512
00:54:35,860 --> 00:54:39,774
it's been a recurring target
for space exploration.
513
00:54:39,900 --> 00:54:45,373
...and liftoff, Atlas V with Juno.
Trek to Jupiter.
514
00:54:45,500 --> 00:54:50,336
In 2011, NASA launched
its latest mission, Juno.
515
00:54:59,660 --> 00:55:02,050
When we launched
the Juno spacecraft
516
00:55:02,180 --> 00:55:04,775
away from the Earth, out towards Jupiter,
517
00:55:04,900 --> 00:55:11,010
we didn't have enough speed to get away,
out of the gravity of the Sun,
518
00:55:11,140 --> 00:55:13,336
so we actually had to
come back to Earth,
519
00:55:13,460 --> 00:55:17,818
get a gravity assist from Earth
and then go out to Jupiter.
520
00:55:21,580 --> 00:55:25,813
After travelling
for five years, Juno finally arrived.
521
00:55:30,420 --> 00:55:34,209
This is a mission that
goes closer to the planet in its orbit
522
00:55:34,340 --> 00:55:35,979
than any other mission ever has,
523
00:55:36,100 --> 00:55:38,934
only a few thousand kilometres
from the cloud tops.
524
00:55:39,060 --> 00:55:43,134
And very, very fast -
we go from pole to pole in two hours,
525
00:55:43,260 --> 00:55:46,219
slipping between the radiation belts
and the cloud tops,
526
00:55:46,340 --> 00:55:49,378
getting the data as fast as we can
and getting out.
527
00:55:51,660 --> 00:55:54,698
So in every way,
Juno is breaking new ground
528
00:55:54,820 --> 00:55:58,894
and that's allowed us to see things
that we couldn't have ever imagined.
529
00:56:03,420 --> 00:56:07,858
Juno's mission is to explore
the planet inside and out.
530
00:56:09,900 --> 00:56:12,972
And amongst the many scientific
instruments it has on board
531
00:56:13,100 --> 00:56:15,774
is its camera, JunoCam.
532
00:56:18,420 --> 00:56:22,892
You see all these swirls.
You see all sorts of spots coming up.
533
00:56:23,020 --> 00:56:24,659
You see all these vortices.
534
00:56:24,780 --> 00:56:28,774
You see dramatic storm systems
interacting.
535
00:56:34,380 --> 00:56:39,739
It's mind-blowingly beautiful pictures
that this little camera has been taking.
536
00:56:42,900 --> 00:56:46,576
JunoCam was able to see the
Great Red Spot from up close.
537
00:56:48,060 --> 00:56:50,211
We can see height to the clouds,
538
00:56:50,340 --> 00:56:52,900
we can see features
that look like storms.
539
00:56:53,020 --> 00:56:57,697
Maybe it's hailing
or snowing ammonia on Jupiter.
540
00:57:00,740 --> 00:57:05,610
And the most startling thing that we saw
from JunoCam's imagery
541
00:57:05,740 --> 00:57:08,733
was that the poles of Jupiter
are actually blue.
542
00:57:13,140 --> 00:57:15,780
They're nothing like
the orange and white planet
543
00:57:15,900 --> 00:57:18,699
that we grew up thinking about
as children.
544
00:57:23,660 --> 00:57:27,449
Juno has just begun to unlock
Jupiter's secrets.
545
00:57:30,140 --> 00:57:36,740
And so, at last, the godfather
of the planets has begun to talk.