Jupiter's immense gravity protects Earth from asteroids. In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists searching for signs of life in the universe identify solar systems with Jupiter-like planets that may be shielding smaller nearby Earth-like planets from comets and asteroids.

Concepts

jupiter

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Additional Tags

extrasolar planets, jupiter's gravity, pbs learningmedia: jupiter: earth's shield, teachers' domain, wgbh

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Classroom Considerations

• Knovation Readability Score: 4 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)