A little more mass could turn Jupiter into a star?

Question

I'm thinking of writing a sci fi story. Humans have colonized the Jovian moons. Being humans, they create huge amounts of waste and garbage (from things imported from other planets.) They use Jupiter as a big garbage dump. How much garbage would they have to toss onto Jupiter before it becomes so massive, it turns into a star? Is this even possible- is it correct to assume that adding mass will eventually cause the planet to become a star, or are other conditions needed?

I realize that garbage might not be nearly enough to tip the scales. Do you have any ideas on what humans COULD toss into Jupiter, or cause to crash into Jupiter (like asteroids... "Let's get rid of those pesky asteroids by shoving them into the nearest planet! Traders between Earth and Jupiter always have to go around the darn things...") Is that enough mass?

Answer 1

I've often wondered about Jupiter, regarding it as a potential star that did not quite make it. This idea is supported by the fact that binary star systems are common in our Galaxy - it may have happened that the Solar system generated two stars! It is very unlikely though that life on Earth would have ever started.

With regard to the idea that using Jupiter as a space dust-bin might improve the chances of it becoming a new star; bear in mind that the combined masses of all of the planets is something like 1/1000 of the mass of the sun!

You could always write your story in a system where the "Gas Giants" evolved as a second "nearly-star" (rather than many gas planets...) with comparable mass to the main star. There, increasing its mass is less of a technological problem.

Answer 2

"What are you doing Dave?"

This topic has been written about in the past. It has been observed that most Planetary systems have a similar architecture, at this point this means gas giants, proto stars, and stars orbiting larger stars. There are many factors which could explain why Jupiter didn't ignite and Alpha Centari B did. Mass, gravity of the parent star, constituency, or just the spark. Jupiter sure did express some potential energy when Shoemaker-Levy 9 pounded into it. Some Conspiracy theorist have even questioned the 54lbs of plutonium batteries we sent there on Cassini and that it could be ignited. If you are looking for the basis of a story, look up the conspiracy theories on it and you might find a useful nugget for your story. Until then, watch 2001 and 2010 A Space Odyssey. Good Luck and good writing!

Answer 3

Alot more, about 75 more Jupiters of planets (anybody found a few more of those lying around?

Jupiter's outside is still very cold, even with some help from the sun. It'd take tremendous weight to squeeze it to the hotness needed to fuse. Jupiter makes more heat than it receives, it's very hot in the center, even so, it's freezing cold on the outside!

In 2010 A Space Odessey or something they did it by having monoliths cover the surface. I dunno, monoliths are black, wouldn't the need mirrors?
Also, once fusion starts, wouldn't the monoliths be melted? Stars are hot! But no, it'd be a very cool star, barely hotter on the surface than fire, so, no, the monoliths stay solid.
I don't know how this would work, I have a feeling that covering Jupiter with silver on the inside and black on the out will only succeed in making a non-stellar infrared emitter, the heat has to get out somehow. Jupiter's center would need to be many times hotter, but many times hotter is many to the fourth power of energy, so you'd need to find a mirror with >99.99% efficiency, even really good mirrors today are only 99%.


If that's even possible it couldn't sustain itself, the monoliths have to stay or the planet will cool. Still, compared to trying to make fusion on Earth, there's much less distance to go.


If any civilization has the power to cover Jupiter with some magic heat-trapping film then civilization would be advanced indeed. It'd be like covering the Earth a hundred times over. That wouldn't happen accidentally.

Answer 4

I have to say that this is just off of the top of my head so I am probably wrong, but is that not the plot of 2001 or another Arthur C. Clarke story that Jupiter becomes a star. I am fairly sure that I read a story somewhere - it might have been a graphic novel but someone has done that plot. Maybe I dreamt it - Best wishes and lots of luck anyway!
Oh by the way I don't think that even if the moons fell into Jupiter they would create the mass required to spontaneously combust it I think that if somehow you could maybe make Saturn and Neptune collide with it, but even then it would be unlikely

Answer 5

Jupiter is not massive enough to become a star. Even a brown dwarf star is about 15 times the mass of Jupiter. It simply doesn't have the mass to build up the density in the core to burn hydrogen, so you can't 'ignite' it or Saturn. But the Sun won't burn out for about 5 billion years, and when it does it will take the Earth with it - so there's no point in trying to ignite Jupiter anyway.

Answer 6

All the garbage and all the planets, moons and asteroids, and cometary rubbish in the Oort and kuiper regions thrown in still wouldn't be enough to start a stellar phoenix action in Jupiter.

To create a second sun in the sol system would need an extra 2 Jupiters at least.

Answer 7

there are extrasolar planets that have more than 10 times the mass of jupiter so to turn jupiter into a small sun you would have to discover some method of compressing the entire planets mass into a smaller sphere using pressure rather than greater mass to cause a fusion reaction. , and the ability to keep applying pressure for it to continue to exist as a star, or gather a pile of garbage with the mass of more than 20 or more jupiters.

Answer 8

Arthur C. Clarke used this idea as part of his sequel to 2001: A space odyssey. Read 2010. Maybe you should try something different. At least if you want to be original. Many scientists think that life can, or could exist on Jupiter's moon Europa.
Imagine a probe reaches europa and has Earth based microbes on it. It reaches Europa and begins to mix with the life currently living there. It mutates and then...
Let your imagination go........!

LOL Nec_curo

Dave Bowman: "Something's going to happen"

Dr. Heywood Floyd: "What's going to happen?"

Dave Bowman: "Something wonderful"

Scene from 2010: The year we made contact.

Answer 9

There was a short story by Issac Asimov.... anyway long and short of it was that in his tale.. this company on earth wanted to purchase the planet of Jupiter to use as a massive advertising board to passing space traffic.

You know... huge million miles letters so it spelt out name of a brand to passing ships to see in space.

He called the story something or other... and sent it to publisher. He said he usually got angry when people change his titles.. but the publisher (a fellow sci_fi writer)... ermm..... Frederik Pohl i think... changed his title to "Buy Jupiter".... which he was surprised and really happy with as it was such a perfect choice.

Anyway - good luck. :)

Answer 10

Us humans would never have the ability to make a planet into a star, it is just too massive of an event..Although this is sci fi, at least go for something believable..