Imagine if one day you looked up
into the night sky,
and saw Mars or Saturn
where the Moon was supposed to be.
That would sure turn our Earth
into an alien world.
And not just because of the new view.
We can thank the Moon for
predictable weather, ocean currents,
and the circulation of important nutrients.
The Moon also helps stabilize the Earth's tilt.
Take away the Moon,
and the Earth would go wobbling
all over the place.
And it would cause what I can only describe
as climate change on steroids.
But we wouldn't just let the Moon
take a day off.
We would find it a replacement
from another part of our Solar System.
What would happen if we swapped
our Moon with a planet
that is 41 times its size?
Before we get to that dramatic part,
let's talk about Pluto.
Pluto wouldn't look much different
than our current Moon.
It would be smaller though,
and this wouldn't be good for Earth.
That's because Pluto's gravitational pull
would be weaker than that of the Moon.
Earth would begin wobbling
all over the place.
And it would result
in dramatic climate change.
All sorts of natural disasters
ruining your day.
The Moon's gravitational pull
is responsible for our daily ocean tides.
Because Pluto is smaller than our Moon,
our ocean tides would become weaker.
This would devastate important ecosystems.
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OK, where were we?
Ah, Pluto covering for the Moon.
Well, how about a planet
that is slightly larger than our Moon?
Mercury would look exactly like our Moon
with its dark gray surface
and asteroid craters.
And it's only 1.5 times the size,
so its impact on our tidal systems
and climate wouldn't be as disastrous.
Out of all the planets in our Solar System,
Mercury would be the safest one
to replace our Moon.
But I can't say that about Mars.
Having the red planet in our night sky
would be quite a sight.
All the iron oxide on its surface
would glow red.
No more white moonlight
shining through your window at night.
Instead, everything would be
bathed in an eerie red.
Mars' stronger gravitational pull
would make tsunamis smaller.
But it would make normal waves massive.
And because Mars would create
stronger tidal forces,
Earth's rotation would slow down.
The days on Earth would become longer.
I hope we'd still keep a 40-hour work week.
Because a 16-hour workday
doesn't sound that great.
Moving on.
With Venus in our night sky,
we might never experience darkness.
Venus is the brightest planet in our Solar System.
It would reflect 60% more light than the Moon.
And because it's 3.5 times the size of the Moon,
it would force the Earth into a binary system.
Earth and Venus would rotate each other.
It would be beautiful.
And disastrous.
Simulations of a binary system
usually end with planets colliding or merging.
Neptune and Uranus are both ice giants,
and are similar in size.
A huge portion of our sky
would be taken up with a blue-green planet.
Only Uranus would also stink horribly.
No wonder this fart-smelling planet
got such a name.
Since both Uranus and Neptune
are 14 to 15 times the size of the Moon,
their impact on Earth's rotation
and tidal systems would be drastic.
Beach houses would have to be built up on cliffs,
far enough away from the reach
of enormous waves.
Now, seeing Saturn up in the night sky
has to be my favorite.
Its pale yellow color and ring system
would be stunning.
But there would be some complications.
Because Saturn is so large,
the Earth would quickly become its moon.
And if Earth orbited around Saturn,
it simply wouldn't be the Earth
as we know today.
Finally, moving on to the big guy.
At 41 times the size of the Moon,
you wouldn't even be able to see
the North and South poles of the gas giant.
Similar to the deal with Saturn,
Earth would become Jupiter's moon.
Only it would get worse.
Because Jupiter is so massive,
the side of Earth that's closest to Jupiter
would experience a stronger gravitational pull
than the opposite side.
This would distort the shape of the Earth.
All this pulling apart
would create frequent volcanic eruptions
and violent earthquakes.
Jupiter's gravitational pull
would tear the Earth apart.
So enjoy the view while it lasts.
This is not how I pictured my day.
Remind me of that time we made
Earth collide with Uranus.
Oh, that was a stinky story.
But we'll save that for another WHAT IF.