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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Are other planets/moons useful?
« on: 13/07/2015 15:52:51 »
Apart from Earth and the Moon, do any other planets have any 'use'?
I assume this question is asking if other planets are useful for humans (hypothetical beings on Europa might not think that our moon is very useful...)
If that is the case, I would say that Jupiter is definitely "useful." It played a very important role in determinging the structure of the solar system, and continues to shield the inner planets from comets and the like.
I would also argue that many of the planets and moons in our solar system have been very useful to us because we have learned so much from observing them. Countless stars and planets have been incredibly useful for navigation and development of accurate calendars. Early observations of the motions of Venus in the sky aided in the development of some mathematics and astronomy. Discover of the moons around Jupiter allowed us to realize that the geocentric view of the universe held at that time was ill-founded. Careful observation of Jupiter's moons was used for very accurate time-keeping before clocks were reliable enough. Laws of gravitation were developed by analyzing the paths of planets and comets, and Einstein's theory of gravitational distortion of spacetime was confirmed by careful measurements of Mercury's orbit. The first few planets discovered outside our own solar system (exoplanets) have revolutionized (and will probably continue to do so over the next few decades) our understanding of our own solar system, and the workings of the universe on a larger scale.
Need I continue? []