01x21 - So Many Moons/Project Pluto

[bunniefuu]

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ That's his name ♪

♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ He'll rocket to fame ♪

♪ When he arrived, he created a buzz ♪

♪ 'Cause there was no house ♪

♪ And then there was, he said ♪

- ♪ People of Earth! You ain't seen nothing yet! ♪

♪ I'm from Bortron , and my name is Jet! ♪

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ That's his name ♪

♪ He looks like us ♪

♪ But he isn't the same ♪

- ♪ I'm a space tripper and a galaxy crosser ♪

♪ My parents brought me here in a flying saucer ♪

- ♪ And just to prove it was a fact ♪

♪ He flew them out to space and back ♪

♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[spaceship whirring]

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

- ♪ He showed up, and now it's a blast ♪

♪ Looks like the future really got here fast ♪

- ♪ Nice to meet you, human race ♪

♪ Tell me all about the place ♪

- Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

all: Ready! Jet! Go!

[dramatic music]

- ♪ Commander Cressida ♪

♪ She is the best of the ♪

♪ Galactic astronauts ♪

♪ There's nothing she cannot... ♪

- You guys?

[together] ♪ Commander Cressida! ♪

♪ The moons of Jupiter ♪

♪ There are so many ♪

♪ But never too much for her ♪

- Um, guys--

[together] ♪ Fearless and curious ♪

♪ With her space dog, Sirius, always in the chase ♪

♪ She'll surely win the race ♪

♪ 'Cause a kid's place ♪

♪ Is exploring space! ♪

Oh, hi, Mindy.

- We're playing "Commander Cressida

on the Moons of Jupiter."

Want to join us?

- [barking]

- Um, I need to ask you something.

[together] Sure! - What's on your mind, Mindy?

- Well, today my mom asked me

what I thought of having a little brother or sister.

- Whoa! You're gonna have a little brother?

- Or sister?

- Not right now.

Mom says that she and Dad are thinking about it,

and she wanted to ask how I felt.

- Okay, so how do you feel?

- A little nervous.

I mean, what would that be like?

Would I like having a little brother or sister?

Would we get along?

- [squeaking]

- Sure, I bet you'd get along, Mindy.

- But what if they like the baby better than me?

Or what if we're so alike

that Mom and Dad can't even tell us apart?

- No, there's only one Mindy.

Your parents won't forget that.

- Are you sure?

- Well, since I'm an only kid,

I'm not sure what having

a brother or sister would be like,

but I bet it's cool.

- Plus, you'd be the big sister.

You'd know so much more than the baby.

You'd be the smart, grown-up one.

- Yeah, it'll be fun to be part of a bigger family.

- I guess so.

I still have so many questions.

- Hey, I know someone--

or, I guess, something

that's got around kids,

and they all get along somehow.

- kids?

Who's got kids,

besides the old lady who lives in her shoe?

- Jupiter, the biggest planet in your solar system.

- Uh, Jet, Jupiter's a planet.

Planets don't have kids.

- Well, here's my reasoning, Sean.

A planet's moons are kind of like their kids,

since moons orbit around their parent planet,

like kids orbit around their parent.

[laughter]

- Jet's right, Sean.

Jupiter was named after Zeus,

the greatest of the Greek gods.

And Jupiter's moons are mostly named after Zeus's children.

- See? - Okay, I guess that works.

And it's true--

Jupiter has a lot of moons.

There's more than .

- Wait, more than ? Really?

- Actually, I think it's around .

- [barks]

- [laughing] Sunspot says .

- How many do you think it has, Sydney?

- Hmm, I have no idea.

Commander Cressida visited some of Jupiter's moons

in that episode, but they didn't say how many there were.

- Well, there's one way to find out.

- Uh, look it up online?

- [laughing]

That's the easy way.

The fun way is to get Mom to fly us out there

and count them ourselves.

- Or could we look it up online?

- [laughing] You're funny, Sean.

Nope, Mom flies us out there,

and then we come back and tell Mindy about how all those moons

somehow orbit around Jupiter and get along.

- Oh, and find out how Jupiter tells all its moons apart

and makes sure they share and stuff.

- Will do, Mindy. Here's my phone.

We'll call you when we find out.

- Wow, I get to wear your phone thingy, Jet?

Yay!

- Great, I can't wait to see Jupiter's moon Ganymede.

Commander Cressida's ship is named after it.

- We'll check out Ganymede for sure, Sydney.

And I'm interested in Europa.

I hear it's mostly ice.

- [sighs]

I guess I've always wanted to see Io.

- Io? Is that one of Jupiter's moons?

- Yup, it's supposed to have volcanoes.

- Great, then I guess you're gonna see Io, Sean.

- Heard you wanted to count the moons of Jupiter.

Hop in, kids. Ready?

- Bye! - Huh?

- Don't forget to call me.

- Sunspot, car trip!

- [giggling]

- Sean, I think you're really

getting used to space travel.

- Yeah, and I like that we're being scientific about it

and actually counting the moons.

- Five, four, three, two, one!

Doors are shut. Engine's on.

Everybody in their place?

Let's go into outer space!

[tires squealing] all: Ready, jet, go!

[adventurous music]

♪ ♪

- Well, here it is--

Jupiter, the king of the planets.

[together] Whoa!

- Look at all those moons!

- Yeah. - So many.

It's like a moon ballet.

How do they all get along

and orbit around Jupiter together

and not crash into each other?

- Perhaps I can answer that, Sydney.

[together] Hi, Face!

- Hello, everyone.

Jupiter's many moons are held

in a smooth, stable orbit

by its enormously strong gravity.

- Oh, but how come it has enormous gravity?

- Because Jupiter is so big.

Jupiter is bigger than all the other planets

in the solar system combined.

[together] Whoa!

- And the bigger something is,

the stronger its gravity is.

[electronic beeping]

- Hello?

[together] Hey, Mindy!

- Hi, you guys.

- Well, the first thing we learned is,

all of Jupiter's moons are held in orbit

by its enormous gravity.

- Okay, but are they all different-looking

so Jupiter can tell its kids apart?

- We'll go look around and find out, Mindy.

Can we start with Ganymede?

- You bet. Ganymede, here we come.

[jet engines whooshing]

- Here we are-- Ganymede,

the largest moon in the solar system.

- Wow! The whole solar system?

- Yes, this moon is so big,

it's even bigger than the planet Mercury.

- Okay, but how different is Ganymede

from its brothers and sisters--

er, I mean, moons?

- If you kids want to see a different-looking moon,

why don't we check out--

- Oh, oh! How about Europa, Mom?

- Europa! Perfect!

Let's hit it.

[jet engines whirring]

♪ ♪

[together] Whoa!

Europa!

- Wow, it really does look different.

- Yes, Mindy, because

it's mostly a frozen ball of ice,

making Europa one of the brightest

and the smoothest objects in the solar system.

- Hey, can we see Io now?

- Sure, Io it is, Sean.

[jet engines whirring]

[together] Wow!

♪ ♪

- What's going on with Io?

- It's got a bunch of volcanoes.

- Correct, Sean.

Io is a moon that orbits

so close to Jupiter's huge gravity,

the stress causes its surface

to break up into volcanoes.

- Wow, look at that lava pouring out

on Io's surface.

It's like melted cheese on an Earth pizza.

Yum!

- Well, I can see that the moons

are really different from each other.

Thanks, you guys.

- But don't forget--

we came all the way out here

to count Jupiter's moons.

- Right, let's do our own count

and find out how many there are.

- Yes!

I feel a song coming on!

Okay, let's count 'em all!

Sunspot?

♪ A-one-a, a-two-a, here's what we're gonna do-a ♪

♪ Let's count the moons of Jupiter ♪

♪ Who knew there were so many? ♪

♪ We got to do it carefully ♪

♪ Just so we don't miss any ♪

♪ They're teeny and enormous ♪

♪ I barely can absorb it ♪

♪ They're helped by Jupiter's gravity ♪

♪ That's how they stay in orbit ♪

♪ Moons, moons, so many moons ♪

♪ Count 'em from the morning till the afternoon ♪

♪ Metis is the closest ♪

♪ Adrastea right behind it ♪

♪ Amalthea is the red one ♪

♪ So it's not too hard to find it ♪

♪ And Thebe and four big moons found by Galileo ♪

♪ Europa is an ice ball ♪

♪ Io has volcanoes ♪

♪ Ganymede's the biggest ♪

♪ As big as Mercury is ♪

♪ Callisto's second biggest ♪

♪ Let's go out and see where she is ♪

♪ Then we orbit farther out to where the outer moons are ♪

♪ They're all the kids of Jupiter ♪

♪ But their names get pretty bizarre ♪

[together] ♪ Moons, moons, so many moons ♪

♪ Count 'em from December till the month of June ♪

- ♪ Themisto, Elara, Himalia, Leda ♪

♪ Carpo, Euporie, Carme, Lysithea ♪

♪ Thelxinoe, Euanthe, Helike, Praxidike ♪

♪ Mneme, Orthosie, then Iocaste ♪

♪ Harpalyke, Hermippe, Thyone, Ananke ♪

♪ Herse, Aitne, Taygete, Chaldene ♪

♪ Kale, Erinome, Aoede, Kalyke ♪

♪ Kallichore, Callirrhoe, Eurydome, Pasithee ♪

♪ Kore, Cyliene, Eukelade, Pasiphae ♪

♪ Hegemone, Arche-- don't forget Isonoe ♪

♪ That's only half the moons that Jupiter can boast-a ♪

♪ Among the planets in the solar system ♪

♪ That's the most-a ♪

♪ is a lot for keeping track of ♪

♪ Moons are something Jupiter has got no lack of ♪

[together] ♪ Moons, moons, so many moons ♪

♪ , ♪

♪ Moons, moons, so many moons ♪

♪ Count 'em from the morning till the afternoon ♪

[cheering]

- We counted moons, Mindy!

- Wow! ?

- And, Mindy, look how different each one is.

See? Ganymede is huge.

Europa's icy and white,

and Io is all yellow and lumpy with lava

from all its erupting volcanoes.

- Wow.

You know, you guys,

all these different moons make me think

it wouldn't be so hard to have

just one little brother or sister.

- Really? You're okay?

What made you decide?

- I figure having one little brother or sister

has got to be easier than having of them.

[laughter]

- You got that right, Mindy.

- But thanks for going to Jupiter

and finding out how many moons there are.

- No problem.

- And after learning all those moon names,

if I have a baby brother or sister,

I'm gonna name it after one of Jupiter's moons.

- Really? - Yeah!

If we get a little brother,

we should call him Praxidike.

- I love that name!

"Hey, Praxidike! Dinner!"

- And if it's a girl, Harpalyke.

Well, maybe Leda is easier to remember.

Like, if I call, "Leda!

It's time for bed!"

That's way easier than,

"Harpalyke!"

- I like Arche.

"Arche! Clean your room!"

- "Eurydome! Did you do your homework?"

- "Praxidike!"

- Have you ever looked up at the Moon at night

and wondered why it looks like it's changing shape?

Sometimes it looks like it's full and round,

and other times it's just a half-circle.

Sometimes it's not there at all.

What's going on with that?

Hi, I'm astronomer Amy Mainzer.

I've got the Moon right here in my hands.

Well, okay, it's not really the Moon,

but you get the idea.

The Moon isn't really changing shape, of course.

It's just a matter of your point of view.

As the Moon is traveling around the Earth,

the Earth is traveling around the Sun at the same time,

and that means different shadows are moving across the Moon.

That's what makes it look like it's changing shape.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

We call this the phases of the Moon.

The Earth travels around the Sun once a year,

and the Moon is traveling around the Earth

once a month.

As the Moon travels around the Earth,

we sometimes see the side that's lit up by the Sun.

And other times, when the Moon's

between the Earth and the Sun,

we're looking at the part that's in shadow.

That's what makes it look like it's changing shape.

♪ ♪

So the next time someone tells you,

"You're just going through a phase,"

just ask them which one--

half, full, quarter, crescent?

You get the idea.

♪ ♪

[laughing]

This is my kind of basketball.

- Seriously, guys, take a look.

Doesn't that cloud look exactly like Sunspot?

- [squeaks]

Ahh!

- Let me see.

Maybe it looks like him,

if Sunspot had a hat and three ears.

What do you think, Sydney?

- Hmm.

Honestly, I think that's a bird.

- Hey, guys, I have exciting news!

- What is it, Mindy?

- Remember how all year

we've been doing show-and-tell at school?

- Sure, like when that kid Riley

brought in his favorite snow globe?

- You remembered!

I want to bring in something better--

a whole planet!

- Great idea, Mindy.

But how are you gonna fit a whole planet

inside your backpack?

- I'll build a planet, silly.

I was going to cover a beach ball

with papier-mâché and paint it.

I just need a beach ball

and some paper

and some mâché...

- What a great idea, Mindy!

We can help, if you want.

- Thanks, guys.

- So which planet do you want to do?

Uh, Jupiter?

Neptune?

Saturn has those cool rings.

- Or Earth?

Uh, I guess that's kind of obvious.

- What about that little one over there--

on the end?

What's that one?

- You mean Pluto? - Pluto, huh?

Yep, I like it.

It's little, like me.

I'll make a Pluto planet.

- Actually, Mindy, Pluto isn't a planet anymore.

- What? It's right there on the chart.

- Well, that's what some scientists said a few years ago.

They voted and said Pluto wasn't a planet anymore.

We learned it at school.

- But why?

Why would those scientists say that?

- Um, I--I know I learned it,

but I can't remember.

- Yeah, me neither.

- I know. Let's go ask my mom and dad.

They know a lot about space.

- Good idea.

- Plus they usually have snacks.

It's been a while since lunch.

- [munching]

Mmm!

[slurps]

[munching]

- Uh, Dad?

- Mmm! That's good!

Uh, you--you want to try?

- Mr. Propulsion,

why are you standing on your head?

- Uh, just baking some pineapple upside-down cake.

The recipe looked easy, but I'm not sure

how long I can stay like this.

- Well, we have a science question.

We were wondering why Pluto used to be a planet

but now it isn't anymore.

- [grunting]

Ah, dear little Pluto.

Yeah, by vote in the scientific world,

it's now considered a dwarf planet.

- A dwarf planet?

So it's still a planet?

- Nope, not at all.

A dwarf planet is not a planet,

just an object in space.

- But why did the scientists

decide that it's not a planet?

- Well, for one thing, it's small.

It's smaller than the other planets.

- But, Mr. Jet's Dad,

I'm smaller than the other kids,

and I'm still one of the group, right?

- Yeah, we wouldn't vote you out of being one of the kids.

- And maybe Pluto's small now,

but when it grows up,

it could get bigger.

- Huh, well, uh, technically--

I mean, that is, uh--

[bell dings] Oh, ha-ha!

There's the oven timer!

[chuckles]

Thank goodness.

Now, who wants cake?

- Mr. Propulsion, we're gonna go to the DSA

and get some answers from Dr. Rafferty.

- You mean your mom?

- Yes, but Dr. Rafferty sounded more professional.

Could you please save us a piece of cake?

- [chuckles] Will do.

- Yeah, maybe we can get those scientists

to take Pluto back into the planet club again.

- You can do it!

I know you can!

- We'll let you know what we find out, Mindy.

- Thanks.

Come on, Sunspot,

let's build a Pluto planet

for show-and-tell.

- [squeaks]

[gulps]

- [laughing]

- [laughing] No.

I didn't personally vote

on Pluto not being a planet, but I can tell you

about some of the reasons why it isn't one.

- Mindy was wondering if maybe the scientists

would change their minds.

- Uh, well, why don't we talk about

what makes something a planet or not?

[together] Yeah.

- So what makes a planet a planet?

Hint: There are three main things.

- You're spinning the planets.

Is that a clue?

- Ah, yes. Very good, Sean.

- Hmm, orbit? - Right, orbit.

A planet orbits-- or goes around--the Sun.

- Does Pluto do that?

- Yes, it does.

- So far, Pluto sounds like a planet.

- Hmm, okay.

What else does a planet need to do?

- Um, be big enough?

- Mm, that's pretty good, Sean.

A planet has to have mass--

that is, enough stuff for its gravity

to shape it into a round ball.

- Does Pluto have enough mass to be round?

- Yes, it does.

- Now it really sounds like a planet.

[together] Yeah!

- But here's what Pluto can't do:

clear the neighborhood.

- What does that mean?

- Pluto doesn't have enough gravity

to push around all the objects

in its area of space.

- What's all that stuff behind Pluto?

- Those are other icy objects

in the same area as Pluto,

and some of them are pretty big too.

- So none of the other planets have those around them?

- Exactly--the other planets have enough gravity

to pull their nearby objects in

or to fling them out of their way.

- Oh, that's kind of a major part of being a planet,

isn't it? - Mm-hmm.

Now, after everything we've just seen

about how it can't clear the neighborhood,

who here still thinks Pluto should be a planet, hmm?

Uh, you all think so?

I--I'm surprised.

- Well, on one hand,

there's all the evidence.

But on the other hand, there's Mindy.

- She's making a Pluto model for show-and-tell.

- And we just don't think she's gonna go for that.

- It's kind of easier to argue with a scientist

than with a four-year-old.

- Oh, I know.

I remember when Sean here was four,

and he insisted on bringing

this little, purple hippo everywhere--

- Okay, moving on. - [giggling]

Um, so how do we change the scientists' minds?

- [clears throat]

DSA scientists,

let's begin the official

"Is Pluto a planet?" debate.

- Thank you for coming, people of Earth.

I mean, thanks for coming, everyone.

Here's the situation.

What is this?

- Oh, oh, oh!

- Dr. Bergs?

- Definitely a strawberry.

- Correct. Is this strawberry a fruit?

- Well, it's not a cup of coffee.

[slurps]

[all slurping] - Ahh.

- But this orange is bigger.

Is the orange a fruit?

- Absolutely.

- Aha! Is the strawberry still a fruit?

- Sure, they're just different-sized fruits.

- How about now?

Next to this cantaloupe,

is the strawberry still a fruit?

- Yes, they're all fruits.

- So the strawberry is still a fruit,

even though it's not as big as the other fruit?

- Yes, but--

- Let's call this strawberry Exhibit A,

proving that size

isn't what makes Pluto not a planet.

[munching]

Mmm, this tastes pretty good.

- Uh, Jet, you're eating Exhibit A.

- [gulps] Hmm? Oh.

That was just to prove it was a real fruit.

- Good evidence, Jet.

- Here is a pebble that's pretty round.

- And here's one that's almost as round.

- Now, all of these pebbles are made out of the same thing,

and some of them are more round than others.

- That's true.

- So Pluto is round and looks like a planet,

not a rock or an asteroid.

- Hmm, that's pretty good.

- Yeah, good job, kids.

You showed Pluto's size and shape

don't keep it from being a planet.

Now, let's hear one point from the scientists.

- Okay, there's something called

"clearing the neighborhood."

Let me explain.

These are two magnets.

One is more powerful.

And magnets do two things.

They either pull metal toward them or push it away.

Now, I'm placing some other metal objects out here.

Pretend these magnets are planets,

like Pluto and Mars,

and these objects are things in their neighborhood,

like icy, floating rocks.

What's the difference between these two magnets?

[metal clinking]

- One of the magnets is pulling things towards it,

and the other looks like it's not strong enough.

- Right, good explanation, Sean.

Now, if we call this one Mars

and this one Pluto,

one of them can pull things in its area toward it.

- Oh, yeah. - Huh, interesting.

- Hmm... [all sipping]

- So Pluto doesn't clear the neighborhood,

because it's too small, right?

- Exactly.

- Okay, everyone.

We've now seen Jet's demonstration

of Pluto's size,

Sydney and Sean's showing us about shape,

and Dr. Bergs' demonstration of clearing the neighborhood.

It seems we have some evidence that Pluto isn't a planet.

[together] Aww...

- Ohh...

- You know, the best thing about this scientific debate,

kids, is that you used facts and examples

to prove your case.

- Right, you are thinking like scientists.

And you should be proud of what you've accomplished.

- Thanks, everyone.

It's just that,

we have to tell this to Mindy,

and she's four.

- Hmm, remember, if Mindy doesn't understand,

just tell her that, one day,

if she grows up to be a scientist,

she can call for another vote on Pluto.

- Thanks, Dr. Rafferty.

- [sighs]

Well, I guess we have one last vote to take:

Who has to tell Mindy that we couldn't

get Pluto to be a planet?

- I vote "not me."

- Me too.

- Hmm, okay, I guess I lost fair and square.

- [chuckling]

- [snoring]

- Hi, guys.

Want to see my cool show-and-tell planet?

- Um, if it's Pluto,

we kind of have something to tell you.

- Pluto?

You mean that thing that's not a planet anymore?

I'm okay with it. - You are?

- Sure, Sunspot and I had a new idea.

It's the best!

- [gibbering]

- Oh, really? What? - Watch this!

Sunspot, go get the rest

of our planet show-and-tell.

[upbeat music]

- [chirping]

♪ ♪

- Look, we're Saturn!

- [grunts]

- Wow! Great job! - [laughs]

- That's amazing! - Awesome!

- Oh, that's the best! [laughing]

- [gibbering]

- It's okay, little Pluto.

Just wait until I grow up.

I won't forget you.

- The Sun's the brightest object in the sky,

and, of course, you should never look directly at the Sun,

because it's so bright, it could burn your eyes.

Hi, I'm astronomer Amy Mainzer.

If I set the Sun down

on the end line of this soccer field,

we can start to get an idea

of just how huge our solar system is.

Let's start with the Earth.

The Earth is incredibly far away from the Sun.

It's million miles away.

That's farther than you would ever drive in your life,

and we call that distance one astronomical unit,

or one AU.

Of course, the Earth isn't really this big

compared to the Sun.

It's really more like the size of this dime here

or even a little smaller than that.

Now, let's go to the most distant planet

in the solar system, Neptune.

[lively music]

♪ ♪

This is Neptune.

It's the most distant planet in the solar system.

It orbits the Sun about times the distance

between the Earth and the Sun,

or AU away.

And it orbits all the way out here,

in the coldest, darkest outer reaches

of the solar system.

Uranus is ..

Saturn is ..

Jupiter: . AU from the Sun.

Mars is / AU away from the Sun.

So the next time you're running around the soccer field,

just pretend you're going from planet to planet,

and keep in mind just how huge

our solar system really is.

♪ ♪

Sol!

Whoop!

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Jet Propulsion! - Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!