Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: katieHaylor on 15/05/2018 11:51:21
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Patton says:
I’ve heard most star systems are binary star systems, and I’ve also heard Jupiter referred to as a “failed star” since it is gaseous, but doesn’t have enough mass to begin fusion.
Is it possible that when the sun dies and blows off a large portion of its mass as well as boils off the atmospheres of Venus and Earth, there will be enough matter freed up for Jupiter to grab onto and grow large enough to begin fusion and transform into a star itself?
What do you think?
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I think that is very unlikely. Even if you took all of the planets, asteroids and satellites in the Solar System and squeezed them into Jupiter, its mass wouldn't even double. In order to turn Jupiter into a star, you would need to increase its mass 75 to 80 times what it is now. That's assuming that what you are adding to it is hydrogen. When the Sun dies and disperses into a nova, it will be hydrogen-poor. I also imagine that most of the material being blown off the Sun will be moving in excess of Jupiter's escape velocity, preventing the planet from accumulating much of that gas.
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The forum is the most important forum right now.
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To somewhat echo and elaborate on what Kryptid said:
The short and practical answer is NO. Jupiter simply lacks (by a large factor) the mass necessary to initiate and maintain a nuclear fusion reaction.
On a more theoretical basis, if you were to ask: What would it take, by any stretch of the imagination, bound by allowable mainstream physics, to transform Jupiter into a star?
The answer would be: Mass, a whole lot of mass.
The numbers vary a bit, but Kryptid suggested a factor of 75 or 80, I have also heard more like 100 spoken of. So to put it another way, using nice round numbers, you would have to add about another 100 Jupiter masses to the planet Jupiter (more or less) in order to ignite and sustain the necessary fusion reaction for Jupiter to function as a star as ordinarily defined.
diogenesNY
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Patton says:
I’ve heard most star systems are binary star systems, and I’ve also heard Jupiter referred to as a “failed star” since it is gaseous, but doesn’t have enough mass to begin fusion.
Is it possible that when the sun dies and blows off a large portion of its mass as well as boils off the atmospheres of Venus and Earth, there will be enough matter freed up for Jupiter to grab onto and grow large enough to begin fusion and transform into a star itself?
What do you think?
Not by itself it won't. Ever watch the movie 2010: Odyssey Two which is from a novel by Arthur C. Clarke. I was the movie version. Its described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010:_Odyssey_Two
In the movie Jupiter collapses as huge monoliths appear to increase the density of the planet. Fusion then starts and it becomes a star which is named Lucifer.
By the way. Clarke was a physicist.