1 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:26,993 JAMES: WELCOME TO STAR GAZERS. I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM 2 00:00:27,093 --> 00:00:28,561 IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA. 3 00:00:28,661 --> 00:00:31,531 DEAN: AND I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER FROM THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY. 4 00:00:31,631 --> 00:00:36,302 JAMES: LAST WEEK, DEAN AND I TALKED ABOUT THE ROCKY PLANETS AND OF COURSE THAT PROMPTED 5 00:00:36,403 --> 00:00:40,874 THE FEDERATION OF GAS GIANT PLANETS TO SEND US A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER DEMANDING EQUAL 6 00:00:40,974 --> 00:00:42,742 TIME. SO 7 00:00:42,842 --> 00:00:46,646 DEAN: WE DEVOTED THIS WEEK'S SHOW TO THE LARGEST OF THE GAS GIANT PLANETS, SPECIFICALLY THE 8 00:00:46,746 --> 00:00:49,149 KING OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM, JUPITER. 9 00:00:49,249 --> 00:00:53,286 JAMES: IF YOU'RE A PERSON WHO LIKES TO DO YOUR PLANET WATCHING BEFORE SUNRISE, JUPITER 10 00:00:53,386 --> 00:00:57,824 IS IN A GREAT POSITION FOR VIEWING RIGHT NOW. SO LET'S GET JOVIAN WITH JUPITER. 11 00:00:57,924 --> 00:01:03,930 DEAN: OK, WE HAVE OUR SKY SET TO AN HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE ANY NIGHT THIS WEEK, FACING SOUTH. 12 00:01:04,030 --> 00:01:08,701 HIGH IN THE SKY, YOULL SEE TWO BRIGHT LIGHTS IN THE CONSTELLATION VIRGO THE MAIDEN. THE 13 00:01:08,802 --> 00:01:13,973 ONE THATS TWINKLING IS THE BLUE GIANT STAR SPICA. THE ONE THAT ISNT TWINKLING IS OUR 14 00:01:14,074 --> 00:01:15,909 FRIEND, JUPITER. 15 00:01:16,009 --> 00:01:20,580 JAMES: THROUGH EVEN A MODEST TELESCOPE, JUPITER SHOWS ITSELF AS A DISK WITH DARK BANDING ACROSS 16 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,618 ITS SURFACE. AND IF YOUR SKIES ARE PARTICULARLY STEADY, AND YOUR TIMING IS RIGHT, YOU MAY 17 00:01:25,718 --> 00:01:27,420 CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE GREAT RED SPOT. 18 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,859 DEAN: AT CURRENT COUNT, 67 MOONS SURROUND JUPITER AND FOUR OF THEM ARE CLOSE TO THE 19 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:40,733 SAME SIZE OR LARGER THAN OUR OWN MOON. THEYRE NAMED, IO, EUROPA, GANYMEDE AND CALLISTO; 20 00:01:40,834 --> 00:01:45,572 AND YOU CAN SEE THEM CHANGE POSITION EVERY NIGHT, THROUGH EVEN A SMALL TELESCOPE. 21 00:01:45,672 --> 00:01:50,477 JAMES: JUPITER IS NOT ONLY THE LARGEST PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, BUT ITS GRAVITY IS SO 22 00:01:50,577 --> 00:01:54,647 STRONG THAT IT'S SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S VACUUM CLEANER. 23 00:01:54,747 --> 00:02:00,787 DEAN: JUPITER'S GRAVITY ATTRACTS NEARBY ASTEROIDS AND OTHER SMALL SOLAR SYSTEM BODIES, AND IT 24 00:02:00,887 --> 00:02:05,925 HAS BEEN KNOWN TO DRAMATICALLY CHANGE THE ORBITS OF AN INBOUND COMET, WHICH CAN SHORTEN 25 00:02:06,025 --> 00:02:09,929 OR LENGTHEN THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES FOR THE COMET TO ORBIT THE SUN. 26 00:02:10,029 --> 00:02:16,769 JAMES: IN JULY 1994, FRAGMENTS OF COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9 COLLIDED WITH JUPITER, PROVIDING THE FIRST 27 00:02:16,870 --> 00:02:20,607 DIRECT OBSERVATION OF A COLLISION BETWEEN TWO SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS. 28 00:02:20,707 --> 00:02:26,112 DEAN: THE PLANET JUPITER HAS BEEN OBSERVED IN THE SKY SINCE ANTIQUITY. THE ANCIENT ROMANS 29 00:02:26,212 --> 00:02:30,984 NAMED IT AFTER THE KING OF THEIR GODS, WHOM THE GREEKS REFERRED TO AS ZEUS. 30 00:02:31,084 --> 00:02:35,421 JAMES: BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMERS HAVE RECORDS OF JUPITER DATING BACK TO THE 7TH CENTURY 31 00:02:35,522 --> 00:02:41,561 B.C. IN HIS BOOK THE ALMAGEST, GREEK ASTRONOMER CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY USED JUPITER'S MOTION WITH 32 00:02:41,661 --> 00:02:45,665 RESPECT TO THE EARTH TO REFINE HIS EARTH-CENTERED MODEL OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 33 00:02:45,765 --> 00:02:50,970 DEAN: BY DOING THIS, PTOLEMY SHOWED THAT JUPITER TOOK ALMOST 12 YEARS TO MAKE A COMPLETE CIRCUIT 34 00:02:51,070 --> 00:02:56,342 OF THE SKY, WHICH WE NOW KNOW AS THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES JUPITER TO ORBIT THE SUN. 35 00:02:56,442 --> 00:03:02,448 JAMES: IN 1610, ITALIAN ASTRONOMER GALILEO GALILEI STUDIED JUPITER USING A TELESCOPE 36 00:03:02,549 --> 00:03:08,288 AND IS CREDITED WITH DISCOVERING THE FOUR LARGEST MOONS OF JUPITER; IO, EUROPA, GANYMEDE 37 00:03:08,388 --> 00:03:14,093 AND CALLISTO. THE MOTIONS OF THESE MOONS AROUND JUPITER PROVIDED GALILEO WITH AN EXAMPLE SUPPORTING 38 00:03:14,194 --> 00:03:19,332 NICHOLAS COPERNICUS' VIEW OF A SUN-CENTERED SOLAR SYSTEM, BECAUSE IF YOU LOOK AT JUPITER 39 00:03:19,432 --> 00:03:23,670 AND ITS MOONS, THEY DO LOOK LIKE A MINIATURE VERSION OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. 40 00:03:23,770 --> 00:03:29,609 DEAN: ASTRONOMERS GIOVANNI CASSINI AND ROBERT HOOKE BOTH NOTICED A LARGE RED SPOT ON JUPITER 41 00:03:29,709 --> 00:03:35,715 DURING THEIR TELESCOPIC OBSERVATIONS IN THE 1660'S. THIS SPOT, AFFECTIONATELY CALLED THE 42 00:03:35,815 --> 00:03:40,720 GREAT RED SPOT, IS SO LARGE THAT YOU COULD FIT TWO EARTHS INSIDE IT. 43 00:03:40,820 --> 00:03:46,125 DEAN: JUPITER IS ENORMOUS. IF JUPITER WERE HOLLOW, YOU COULD FIT OVER 1000 EARTHS INSIDE 44 00:03:46,226 --> 00:03:51,397 IT, AND IT HAS OVER 120 TIMES THE SURFACE AREA OF THE EARTH. IF JUPITER WERE THE SIZE 45 00:03:51,497 --> 00:03:55,201 OF A BASKETBALL, EARTH WOULD BE ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SMALL MARBLE. 46 00:03:55,301 --> 00:04:01,608 JAMES: JUPITER ALSO SPINS VERY FAST. ITS DAY IS ONLY 9.8 HOURS. WHICH MEANS THAT WHEN JUPITER 47 00:04:01,708 --> 00:04:06,512 RISES AT SUNSET DURING THE WINTER MONTHS (WHEN THE SKY IS DARK FOR MORE THAN 12 HOURS), IN 48 00:04:06,613 --> 00:04:10,516 THE COURSE OF ONLY ONE NIGHT, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE ENTIRE SURFACE OF THE PLANET. 49 00:04:10,617 --> 00:04:15,922 DEAN: THIS RAPID SPINNING HAS CAUSED JUPITER TO TAKE ON AN M & M SHAPE AND BECAUSE JUPITER 50 00:04:16,022 --> 00:04:21,261 IS NOT A SOLID BODY, JUPITER'S ATMOSPHERE ACTUALLY SPINS FASTER AT THE EQUATOR THAN 51 00:04:21,361 --> 00:04:25,832 IT DOES AT THE POLES, MAKING THE CLOUDS FORM THE STRIPES WE'VE COME TO KNOW AND LOVE. 52 00:04:25,932 --> 00:04:30,903 DEAN: SO, GET OUTSIDE AND GAZE UPON THE GAS GIANT PLANET JUPITER THIS WEEK. 53 00:04:31,004 --> 00:04:32,739 JAMES: IT'S EASY TO DO WHEN YOU 54 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,839 BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!