Our Solar System has eight planets,
a few dwarf planets
and more than 200 moons.
But wait.
Are you seeing double?
Or did every planet suddenly get a twin?
The Solar System
has three types of planets.
Rocky, gaseous and icy.
These all formed after our Sun was born
from a spinning disc of dust and gas.
As temperatures in the Solar System rose,
the inner regions were as hot as 1,730 °C (3,140 °F).
And only substances with very high melting points
like iron, silicon and magnesium could remain solid.
This gave way to our rocky,
terrestrial planets,
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
Further out, temperatures were as cool as
-225 °C (-370 °F).
So the outer planets like Jupiter and Saturn
attracted massive amounts
of hydrogen and helium.
Then beyond that,
Uranus and Neptune formed
out of methane and water.
All these planets formed
in the exact right location
with the perfect conditions for
what they are today.
Especially Earth.
But on What If,
since everything is possible,
not only will we double every planet in the Solar System,
but we're also going to line these planetary twins up
in reverse order.
What could go wrong?
I know, I know,
Pluto isn't a planet anymore.
It was demoted to a dwarf planet back in 2006.
But for the sake of this scenario,
Pluto will make a comeback.
Only this time,
instead of being formed on the outskirts of the Solar System,
it would orbit
dangerously close to the Sun.
The original Pluto is about two-thirds the size of our Moon.
But Pluto's twin would be much smaller.
Being so close to the Sun,
its mantle of water ice would boil away,
leaving behind only a small rocky core.
Next up, you’d find Mercury
in its usual first position from the Sun.
But except this time,
on the exact opposite side of its orbital path
it would be joined by the twin version of the ice giant, Neptune.
Now, looking at Neptune's twin,
you’d barely recognize it.
The Sun would rip gases out of its atmosphere
and pull them toward the star itself.
Yeah, looks like putting an ice giant right next to the Sun
is a very bad idea.
What were you thinking?
Eventually, Neptune could be in danger of losing
its entire atmosphere.
Now, you certainly wouldn’t see this happen overnight.
Maybe, if you set up the world’s most epic timelapse,
you could see this unfold
over the next 10 million years.
Venus is often referred to
as the planet of love,
which would now be extra exciting
because you could watch it circle the Sun with a new dance partner,
Uranus' twin.
This partnership would be a relatively harmonious one
for both of them
and neither would see much of a change.
But I need to warn you,
Earth's planetary neighborhood
could get stinky.
All thanks to Uranus' atmosphere
that carries the whiff of farts anywhere it goes.
Now, Uranus’ twin would be a great place for a quick visit.
Especially if you were looking to get rich.
You might get caught in one of its diamond rain storms
and collect some bling
that's been formed
in the atmosphere’s immensely high-pressured environment.
Just don't forget your spacesuit.
Next up, the Earth's orbit.
You'd get to look into the night sky from wherever you are
and see the spectacle that is
the twin of Saturn.
And you'd be in for a treat.
A magnificent view of the planet’s swirling yellow storm clouds,
Not to mention
at least 62 moons shining down on you.
But just because it would be joining us in the habitable zone
doesn't mean this gas giant
would be able to support life.
Saturn's twin still wouldn't have a solid surface.
And superfast winds would whip around the planet’s upper atmosphere
at speeds of up 1,800 km/h (1,100 mph).
The problem is that
while you're enjoying the spectacle,
this twin's gravity would start tearing our planet apart.
And its moons might be set on a collision course with us.
Odds are that this planetary configuration
would wipe out all life on Earth.
OK, enough of the bad stuff.
Let's talk about Mars.
The red planet would be paired with the world
that is home to the infamous Great Red Spot.
Yeah, you guessed it,
the twin of Jupiter is about to crash this party.
The copy of the largest planet in the Solar System
would be located at the very edge
of the Sun’s habitable zone.
Now, that wouldn’t mean that Jupiter's twin could support life.
It would still be made of gas
with no solid surface.
But its presence so close to Mars
could cause Mars to turn into a lush habitable world.
Mars is a dry desert
with no liquid water and hardly any atmosphere.
Well, that’s largely thanks to the disappearance of its magnetic field,
which used to hold its atmosphere together.
This likely happened when Mars
got bombarded by asteroids in its early days.
But if Jupiter’s twin and its strong gravitational force
were around back then,
well, it could have saved Mars from those asteroid collisions.
Then Mars could have kept its atmosphere.
And maybe there'd be life there today.
Or maybe this twin of the largest planet in the Solar System
would have sent even more asteroids toward Mars.
Maybe even right toward Earth,
meaning life probably wouldn’t even have the chance to form.
OK, on the opposite side of our Solar System's asteroid belt,
you’d find all these pairings repeated.
Starting with the original Jupiter
and the twin of Mars,
things would stay pretty much the same.
Jupiter would still be big and gaseous,
while Mars would be cold,
dry and lifeless.
And then there would be Earth 2.0.
Now sharing an orbit with Saturn,
you’d find Earth’s twin
way outside of the Sun’s habitable zone.
Here, you’d receive 1% as much sunlight
as you get back home.
From space,
Earth 2.0 would look like a frozen snowball version of our planet.
The oceans would mostly freeze over.
But that wouldn’t mean that
pockets of life couldn’t still exist under all that ice.
Deep in the ocean,
close to hydrothermal vents,
there could be enough heat to sustain life.
The tidal motion of the water
could move that geothermal heat around,
allowing parts of it to remain liquid.
Next on the list, the twin of Venus.
Located right next to Uranus
and 27 times further away from the Sun than it is now.
This would cause its temperatures to drop.
The original Venus is known for
its scorching hot surface temperatures
that can be as high as 475 °C (900 °F).
Even this far from the Sun,
the Venusian twin
could still retain some of its warmth.
But you wouldn't be able to move there just yet.
Its thick atmosphere would be
full of lethal amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid.
So you’d have to terraform it first.
Finally reaching the outer edge of the Solar System,
you’d find Mercury’s twin circling the Sun
in the same orbit as Neptune.
While the original Mercury
is the second hottest planet,
this world would be a frozen rock.
It would also look eerily similar to our Moon.
OK, that’s the end of our journey
through this crowded version of the Solar System.
But I wonder what things would look like
if it was all a little closer together.
Like every planet being within the habitable zone of the Sun.
Well, that’s a story for another WHAT IF.