2007-04-10 04:29:16 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
no gas giants are planets and much too small to form stars. if a gas giant gains weight and eventually passes the point at which fusion occurs in its core then it could become a star, but no there is no way that a star could form inside a gas giant.
2007-04-10 04:34:15 · answer #1 · answered by Tim C 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jupiter's been described as a "failed star", because it simply didn't have the mass to condense it's matter enough to spark nuclear fusion. Jupiter does, however, expel more energy than is absorbed by the sun - so it's mass is great enough to generate a lot of heat through gravitational compression and it's rapid rotation. If a gas planet is *pure* enough - made up of mostly hydrogen & helium - and if it *continues* to absorb additional hydrogen & helium, it's *possible* that, eventually, it can grow to the mass that would spark nuclear fusion at it's core.... but, you need to have a supply of hydrogen gas - and (where we are at least), there isn't any.
2007-04-10 04:53:25 · answer #2 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, they don't have enough mass. Jupiter, which is the largest gas giant in our solar system, would need at least 80% more mass for it to have become a star. Stars are born when the temperature in the core of a sphere of compressed gases reaches at least 10-million degrees Kelvin. None of the solar system gas giants can compress enough to attain this temperature.
2007-04-10 04:42:43 · answer #3 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The smallest (and dimmest) brown dwarf star ever found has a mass about 200 times that of Jupiter
2007-04-10 05:01:09 · answer #4 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is a good question, Jupiter has the ability to ignite and become a sun, because of this it has been considered by some as a brown dwarf
2007-04-14 04:07:46 · answer #5 · answered by hilltopobservatory 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋