I'm not so sure that Jupiter protects us. It might accelerate some comet or meteor in our direction utlimately leading to the end of all life on the planet as we know it. This may be happening even now, with the comet or meteor on a trajectory to strike our planet right now, with but a few weeks or months of life left. The death might be horrible. We may die in a sea of fire and tidal waves and poisonous gasses and earthquakes and volcanos, right? Do I have this wrong? I think the jury on Jupiter is still out. We may not find out for another two billion years. On the other hand, it probably has saved our planet from the strikes of cosmic bodies many times, just like the original thread says. Now I'm worrying about this. Is Jupiter a blessing or a curse? Which one is it? Just kidding.
Originally posted by coquetteI am pretty sure that on the BBC documentary series 'The Planets' a leader in the field said Jupiters presence reduced the number of 'significant impacts' (defined as those of a certain energy, leading to mass extinction events) from once every 100,000 years to once every 100 million years.
I'm not so sure that Jupiter protects us. It might accelerate some comet or meteor in our direction utlimately leading to the end of all life on the planet as we know it. This may be happening even now, with the comet or meteor on a trajectory to strike our planet right now, with but a few weeks or months of life left. The death might be horrible. We may di ...[text shortened]... Now I'm worrying about this. Is Jupiter a blessing or a curse? Which one is it? Just kidding.
In short, based on the theory of evolution, without Jupiter, life would never have got a foothold.
So I like Jupiter. Very very much.
Originally posted by PolicestateI also like Neptune. But that's clearly for another thread.
I am pretty sure that on the BBC documentary series 'The Planets' a leader in the field said Jupiters presence reduced the number of 'significant impacts' (defined as those of a certain energy, leading to mass extinction events) from once every 100,000 years to once every 100 million years.
In short, based on the theory of evolution, without Jupiter, life would never have got a foothold.
So I like Jupiter. Very very much.