2007-05-09 05:18:21 · 8 answers · asked by Sergio C 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
From a researcher at my alma mater:
"Jupiter will never be able to turn into a star. The reason why is that Jupiter is too small. It would need to be 100 times more massive for the thermo-nuclear reactions to begin inside Jupiter.
Gravity pulls all the gas of a star towards the center until the pressures are high enough to start the nuclear reactions.
Astronomers have found stars called "brown dwarves" which
are about 100 times smaller than our own sun and 100 time larger than Jupiter. These brown dwarves are the smallest and coolest stars known to us. Jupiter would need to grown 100 times for gravity to compress the insides enough for the planet to turn into a star"
2007-05-09 05:28:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Jupiter is much too small to become a star unless it merges with something at least 13 times larger than it - and there's pretty much no chance of that. Becoming a star is not in the future of any planet.
2007-05-09 05:24:10 · answer #2 · answered by eri 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jupiter will never become a star because stars are created during the formation of the planet. Jupiter is already formed, and there is no free mass anywhere in the galaxy that could be added to Jupiter's mass to make it large enough to become a massive neutron star. Also there has to be enough pressure within the planet so that nuclear fusion starts. There is no way Jupiter would be able to create the pressure needed either.
2007-05-09 12:07:56 · answer #3 · answered by hotblondbabe420 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The sun will expire before anything like that could happen. If Jupiter doesn't get destroyed when the sun explodes, it will surely start drifting and I'm not sure how long it would take it to reach the closest star or planetary system, but I would think that it is also more likely that it will crash against another body and get destroyed first because its gravitational field will no longer will be stable, it will crash right into whatever it goes near.
2007-05-09 05:32:24 · answer #4 · answered by Weakest 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The smallest star we know of is a brown darf which has 200 times the mass of Jupiter.
2007-05-09 05:32:04 · answer #5 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no it wud not become a star but if the sun blasts or stops burning then jupiter can turn into a snow ball
2007-05-09 05:26:53 · answer #6 · answered by pokemon maniac 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
no. jupiter is a planet and planets do not become stars.
2007-05-09 05:59:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not unless it gains in mass by some unforeseen reason
2007-05-09 05:35:59 · answer #8 · answered by bprice215 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋