The sky is a beautiful vista - often full of majesty in the bright tapestry of the glory
of our universe.
We look up - and the constant constellations remind us of our place, not only in our solar
system - but also as a reminder of just how damn lucky we are that Planet Earth hit the
sweet spot when the infinite will of the cosmos decided on where to park us.
We find comfort in it’s cosmic consistency.
The sun - the stars - and our moon.
But what if one day you looked up - and instead of just one moon, there were … 79 - and
counting, and all of them are uniquely hostile in their own perfect little way… and that
means only one thing…
Yeah, let me explain.
Hello internet - what’s going on, and once again welcome back to the most inquisitive
channel on YouTube - Life’s Biggest Questions.
As per usual, I’ll be your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch - as today, we curiously
ask the question - What If Earth Was A Moon Of Jupiter?
Yeah.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from Syfy’s incredible Science Fiction epic,
The Expanse, based upon the equally awesome series of novels by Daniel Abraham and Ty
Franck - which is possibly one of the best space-themed television shows to grace our
screens in the past few decades.
It segues us to an important opening point as well - because if Earth was a Moon of Jupiter
- we better well hope that we’ve already discovered something similar to the Epstein
Drive - the spaceship propulsion system featured in The Expanse that let’s humanity travel
freely across the solar system in efficiently propelled spaceships - because without it,
we’re pretty much sitting ducks when it comes to the terrifying intracices of our
new Jupiter Lunar neighbours.
Before we approach this question though - it’s probably best that we lay out some of the
frightening cosmic fancies of that strange, giant planet known only as Jupiter.
If you haven’t yet seen our video detailing exactly what would happen if you plummeted
through the gaseous landscape of Jupiter - then now would probably be high time to check it
out - if for no other reason than Jupiter is interesting as hell - and it’s a pretty
fun concept to imagine hurtling through it’s many deadly atmospheres in a space-suit.
Right?
Yeah, I’m glad we’re on the same page.
Jupiter - is absolutely massive.
It’s the largest planet in our solar system - and has a mass that is two-and-a-half times
greater than all of the other neighbouring planets - *combined* - excluding the Sun,
of course - because that would just be ridiculous.
In fact - Jupiter is so big that it could contain over 1300 Earth’s within its mass.
Just let that sink in.
It's also a gas giant - meaning that many of its planetary properties are colosally
different than that of Earth’s, warranting to the fact that because of it’s absolutely
massive size - Jupiter’s got a lot of love, and a whole lot of gravity to affect the solar
system with.
Enter - the 79 … and counting - Moon’s of the Jovian system - all of them seeking
shelter in Jupiter’s all-consuming gravity - finding their home in the many layers of
the rings of Jupiter.
This is where things get interesting - and this is also where Earth would find it’s
home in this particular hypothetical situation.
The inner moons of Jupiter - are tiny things - less than 200 kilometers in diameter, and
are thought to have formed alongside Jupiter - way back when, in the cosmic soup.
These are Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea and Thebe - say hello, because they’re our new neighbours.
Alongside these are what is known as the Galilean Moons - that comprise some of the largest
moons in the Solar System - some of which are larger than several planetary bodies.
These are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - first discovered by Galileo Galilei sometime
in 1610.
Familiarise yourself with these guys - because if Earth *was* a Moon of Jupiter - and ended
up anywhere *other* than a similar orbit to these Lunar Entities - as in Jupiter’s outer
dust rings - then our planet would be torn apart by cataclysmic tidal forces and scattered
to the cosmic winds.
And of course - we don’t want that.
So, let’s say that our Earth finds itself in the same orbit as Europa - a small moon
made up of silicate rock with some incredibly interesting mechanics.
In the same orbital distance - our days would last around 85 hours - with up to 15 of those
hours caught in the shadow of Jupiter - in a weird, kind of day-night-day daily pattern.
Also, by that principle alone - Earth just got super cold - and also, in all likelihood
- our Planet would become Tidally Locked to Jupiter thanks to its massive gravity, in
a way similar to how our Moon interacts with our planet.
Being Tidally Locked would result in a strange scenario - where one half of the planet dries
out into an arid desert wasteland, and the other half turns into a frigid, frozen ice
cap of constant Arctic winds and snow.
This isn’t too great of a position to be in - but it’s not all doom and gloom, because
our species could actually survive this - and in areas near the middle of this newly-founded
geothermal landscape, humanity could find a pretty comfortable home.
However - it’s not all tippity-top, because Jupiter’s a pretty dangerous dude - and
this whole time he’d be spewing deadly amounts of radiation in our direction.
Uh - that’s not good.
But also - don’t worry!
Because we are - in fact - the lucky wielders of the Shield That Guards The Realms of Mankind
- our magnetosphere - and in this hypothetical situation, the same shield that protects us
from the sun’s radiation would be fit for the task to protect us from Jupiter’s as
well.
Thank you Earth.
We love you.
But … Jupiter’s not done with us yet, and this particular boss battle just segued
into phase 2.
Because of it’s massive gravity - Jupiter has a strange affect on it’s many moons,
and in essence - it heats them to a point where it’s celestial influence almost kneads
them like a ball of dough.
Because of this strange influence - our Earth would become a hell of a lot more volcanic
than it is now - and pretty much every volcano across the planet would be spewing out a constant
stream of carbon dioxide into the air.
Under any other circumstances - that would be a terrible thing - but given the fact that
in this situation our planet is tidally locked to Jupiter, and half of it is frozen in darkness
and ice - we would actually welcome a bit of global warming.
I guess we’d just have to adapt to all of the clouds of sulfur and torrential downpours
of acid rain.
Hopefully…
In actual fact - whilst it’s easy to imagine Earth being a Moon of Jupiter resulting in
the end of our species - we could actually survive the whole all deal given a bit of
grit and determination, albeit - with a much smaller population, down to the fact that
we’ve got to deal with a couple dozen environmental disasters throughout the process.
And if we did - we’ve got a whole host of cosmic phenomena to look forward to.
The main one being - well - Jupiter, in the sky - constantly - over forty times the size
of the moon.
And we wouldn’t just see Jupiter - but all of our other new neighbouring moons - Io,
Callisto, Ganymede - as well as all of the many smaller moons - perpetually dancing in
the atmosphere, alongside a beautiful cascade of lightning and a permanent aurora from the
Jovian System.
And if we did manage to survive the whole process - and then also advanced to some type
of space-flight such as the one that we mentioned earlier - then we’ve got a whole new backyard
ripe for the picking and the harvesting of some insanely rare and valuable metals, ores
and chemical compounds.
In fact - with our proximity to Jupiter and our new tidally locked relationship - we’d
have a fixed point perfect for shuttle launches and general space flight - so there’d be
even more reason to invest in the exploration of our 79 new moon neighbours as well as the
rest of the solar system.
So, how about it then guys?
Whaddaya say?
Who’s up for moving to Jupiter?
Well - there we have it - our long and short answer to the incredibly intriguing question,
What If Earth Was A Moon Of Jupiter?
It’d be a crazy old ride - but the rewards would potentially be richer than you might
expect.
What about you guys?
Do you agree?
Or do you have any other interesting insight into this particular Life’s Biggest Question?
Let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below.
Before we depart from today’s video though - let’s first take a quick look at some
of your more creative comments from over the past few days.
Alea Miller says --
Do you remember the game?
-- DAMNIT!
Uh.
I always lose the game.
Well, do you guys remember the game?
Ah crap I did it again.
Well - on that note, I’m gonna go and try and forget all about the Game - and unfortunately
that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video - cheers for sticking around all the
way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video - or just Life’s Biggest Questions in particular,
then please - be a dear and hit that thumbs up button - as well as that subscribe bell,
and I’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch - you’ve been
watching Life’s Biggest Questions - and until next time, you take it easy.