2006-08-31 05:10:18 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The gas giant's gravity holds it together. A very small gas body could not exist, because it would lack the tensile strength that holds very small rocky bodies together. It's conceivable that some chemical or mechanical process could be artificially initiated inside of a gas giant of sufficient mass that would lead to sustained fusion, but I don't believe that a viable process has ever been published.
2006-08-31 05:14:56 · answer #1 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The same reason that everything is not sucked apart by the vacuum of space, gravitational force. Jupiter, which is the largest of the four gas giants in our solar system, actually emits more radiation than it receives from the sun. It might be considered a "Dwarf Star". No, we can't light it up and have a second sun. Why don't you just move to a binary stellar system instead?
2006-08-31 13:02:26 · answer #2 · answered by Amphibolite 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Suction is an illusion caused by pressure. The pressure at the top of any atmosphere is infinitesimal, so particles are only lost by diffusion. Gravity is a very strong force keeping a gas giant together though. Gas giants don't have the critical mass to light properly, although they do emit some energy. A brown dwarf star is bigger than a gas giant, but still not massive enough to shine properly.
2006-08-31 05:19:53 · answer #3 · answered by cdrotherham 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a) the "Vacuum" of space is not like the household vacuum which sucks up dirt. It just describes the emptyness of space.
b) Gas Giants do not fall apart because they are massive enough to "self gravitate". They contain enough mass that it is attracted to itself in the same way you are attracted to the Earth.
c) Gas Giants are not massive enough to sustain Fusion (which is how the sun "lights up" in the first place). So you cannot light up a gas giant.
2006-08-31 05:17:20 · answer #4 · answered by April C 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The gravitational pull of the material keeps the gas from boiling into space. Also suns are powered by nuclear fusion, a certain mass is needed to squeeze the atoms close enough together for them to fuse and turn into a star. Gas giants do not have enough mass and so they are not stars!!
2006-08-31 06:15:56 · answer #5 · answered by Darmok 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The vacuum we know on earth is acheived by sucking the air out of a vessel, because air has weight it has a pressure at sea level of 1 bar or 15lbs per square inch, now if you open the vessel which is now devoid of any gas, air will rush in to equalise the pressure. Therefore if the earth did not have an athmosphere a `vacuum` ie (nothing there) would still exist but there would be no effect, as in space.
2006-09-02 02:50:22 · answer #6 · answered by Spanner 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a gas giant there is a balance set up by the gravitational attraction produced by the dense, massive core and the kinetic energy produced by the nuclear reactions in its core. So gas does escape especially if the nuclear reaction rate increases suddenly.
When they are called gas giants this is not because they are made of natural gas (which is flammable) but because the outer layers are gaseous. The existence of a gas giant is not owed to it being on fire in the traditional sense.
2006-08-31 05:16:20 · answer #7 · answered by fearsome_gibbon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Space is not a vacuum. A vacuum has nothing in it. Space has all kinds of particles, atoms, quanta of light, etc. in it. Space is a low pressure system.
Gravity of the gas atoms compresses and binds them together and over comes the low pressure of space which is trying to inflate things. The core of a gas giant is much more dense than its shell
2006-08-31 09:42:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravity holds it together just like the earth and the sun. Also you can't just light a gas giant to make a star. The sun is powered by fusion (combining atoms like a Hydrogen Bomb), not fire. Gas gaints, such as Jupiter and Saturn, are similar composition to the sun, but they aren't big enough to reach the critical mass to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.
2006-08-31 05:15:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
A gas giant has to be big enough to contract under its own gravity and start fusing itself into different elements (releasing energy) before it becomes a sun. So there's a size limit. So it's big enough to keep itself together under its own gravity and not break apart, but not TOO big.
As for lighting it, if it's hydrogen, you'd need oxygen for combustion to take place. But that's not how the sun works.
2006-08-31 05:16:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋