In Our Time: Science
BBC Radio 4
Categories: Education
Listen to the last episode:
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, and it’s hard to imagine a world more alien and different from Earth. It’s known as a Gas Giant, and its diameter is eleven times the size of Earth’s: our planet would fit inside it one thousand three hundred times. But its mass is only three hundred and twenty times greater, suggesting that although Jupiter is much bigger than Earth, the stuff it’s made of is much, much lighter. When you look at it through a powerful telescope you see a mass of colourful bands and stripes: these are the tops of ferocious weather systems that tear around the planet, including the great Red Spot, probably the longest-lasting storm in the solar system. Jupiter is so enormous that it’s thought to have played an essential role in the distribution of matter as the solar system formed – and it plays an important role in hoovering up astral debris that might otherwise rain down on Earth. It’s almost a mini solar system in its own right, with 95 moons orbiting around it. At least two of these are places life might possibly be found.
With
Michele Dougherty, Professor of Space Physics and Head of the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, and principle investigator of the magnetometer instrument on the JUICE spacecraft (JUICE is the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, a mission launched by the European Space Agency in April 2023)
Leigh Fletcher, Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Leicester, and interdisciplinary scientist for JUICE
Carolin Crawford, Emeritus Fellow of Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, and Emeritus Member of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
Previous episodes
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284 - Jupiter Thu, 27 Jul 2023
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283 - Hormones Thu, 07 Mar 2024
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282 - Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle Thu, 28 Mar 2024
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281 - Plankton Thu, 02 Nov 2023
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280 - Albert Einstein Thu, 12 Oct 2023
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279 - Mitochondria Thu, 29 Jun 2023
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278 - Linnaeus Thu, 18 May 2023
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277 - Paul Erdős Thu, 23 Mar 2023
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276 - Tycho Brahe Thu, 02 Mar 2023
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275 - Superconductivity Thu, 23 Feb 2023
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274 - The Challenger Expedition 1872-1876 Thu, 22 Dec 2022
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273 - The Fish-Tetrapod Transition Thu, 17 Nov 2022
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272 - The Electron Thu, 27 Oct 2022
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271 - The Death of Stars Thu, 07 Jul 2022
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270 - Homo erectus Thu, 12 May 2022
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269 - Seismology Thu, 07 Apr 2022
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268 - In Our Time is now first on BBC Sounds Fri, 04 Mar 2022
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267 - William and Caroline Herschel Thu, 11 Nov 2021
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266 - Corals Thu, 28 Oct 2021
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265 - The Manhattan Project Thu, 07 Oct 2021
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264 - The Evolution of Crocodiles Thu, 16 Sep 2021
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263 - Longitude Thu, 13 May 2021
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262 - Pierre-Simon Laplace Thu, 08 Apr 2021
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261 - The Late Devonian Extinction Thu, 11 Mar 2021
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260 - Emilie du Châtelet Thu, 04 Feb 2021
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259 - Eclipses Thu, 31 Dec 2020
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258 - Alan Turing Thu, 15 Oct 2020
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257 - Paul Dirac Thu, 05 Mar 2020
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256 - The Evolution of Horses Thu, 27 Feb 2020
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255 - Solar Wind Thu, 23 Jan 2020
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254 - Hybrids Thu, 31 Oct 2019
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253 - Dorothy Hodgkin Thu, 03 Oct 2019
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252 - Kinetic Theory Thu, 23 May 2019
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250 - The Evolution of Teeth Thu, 11 Apr 2019
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249 - Pheromones Thu, 21 Feb 2019
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248 - Aristotle's Biology Thu, 07 Feb 2019
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247 - Emmy Noether Thu, 24 Jan 2019
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246 - Venus Thu, 27 Dec 2018
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245 - Free Radicals Thu, 01 Nov 2018
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244 - Automata Thu, 20 Sep 2018
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243 - Echolocation Thu, 21 Jun 2018
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242 - The Proton Thu, 26 Apr 2018
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241 - George and Robert Stephenson Thu, 12 Apr 2018
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240 - Rosalind Franklin Thu, 22 Feb 2018
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239 - Fungi Thu, 15 Feb 2018
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238 - Cephalopods Thu, 01 Feb 2018
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237 - Carl Friedrich Gauss Thu, 30 Nov 2017
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236 - Feathered Dinosaurs Thu, 26 Oct 2017
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235 - Bird Migration Thu, 06 Jul 2017
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234 - Enzymes Thu, 01 Jun 2017