can Jupiter become a star when the sun is no longer a star?

Question

when the sun expands into a red giant 6 billion year from now, it starts to loose its mass untill its left only with its core. this mass that is lost, could it be attracted by Jupiters gravity so that Jupiter becomes larger and become a star, not a very big one, just a small star? or be added to any other planet to become a star?

Answer 1

No because without the sun, all the planets will become cold. But scientists say that the sun will expand and collapse on itself which means that it will take with it all the planets surrounding it.

Answer 2

To do that, Jupiter would have to grow to some 75 or 80 times it's present mass. Massive as it is for a planet, compared to the Sun it's a mere pipsqueak with a mere 1/1000th of the Sun's mass. I doubt it could capture enough of the Sun's outer layers to even become a brown dwarf, which do initiate deuterium (heavy hydrogen) fusion for a few million years before fusion stops. Jupiter would have to gain 12 times more it's own mass to even begin to be able to do that. The final ejection of a star's outerlayers is very rapid and at a velocity high enough to inhibit a planet's ability to capture gasses from the ejecta. None of the other planets will be able to become a star either, all of them put together aren't even half as massive as Jupiter. Stars in a double or multiple star system are another matter. The bright star Siruis is case in point. Sirius B, now a white dwarf must have once been the more massive of the two, because it became a red giant then a white dwarf where as the present day Sirius A is a normal hydrogen fusing star. It's very likely when Sirius B became a red giant Sirius A captured at least a solar mass or more of hydrogen, turning a formerly Sunlike star into a blue-white 2.3 solar mass star. The core of Sirius B then collapsed into an Earth sized white dwarf as massive as our Sun but 400 times fainter. Indeed, the gas giants will themselves lose a lot of mass when they are roasted by a Sun 5,000 times more luminous than it is right now.

Answer 3

Jupiter has no mission of becoming any kind of a star. The Sun has 1050 times approximately more mass for a start. The Sun is 1.3 million miles in diameter where Jupiter is only 88.000. There is enough pressure at the centre of the Sun to fuse atoms, whereas at the centre of Jupiter, Hydrogen is a metallic liquid.. That is why The Sun is a Star and Jupiter a Gas Giant planet.

Answer 4

Unlike Space Odyssy 2001, when Jupiter did become a star, the planet in reality does not have the mass to create a star. Recognize that Jupiter, despite its vast size, is mostly, if not entirely, gas. Jupiter's mass is about 1.9 X 10^27 kg and the Sun's is about 1.9 X 10^30 kg. [See source.] Thus, Jupiter's mass is about 1/1000 of the Sun's, which is just not enough to light the candle so to speak.

There is a critical mass, called Jean's mass, that a clump of gas must have before it will collapse under its own gravity and begin fusing. And that mass is about 80 times that of Jupiter. Check this out:

"*Brown dwarfs are a type of failed star. They do not fuse hydrogen and so are technically not considered to be stars. They do not fuse because their masses are below approximately 80 times Jupiter's, so there is not enough pressure to raise internal temperatures to those necessary for fusion. If two brown dwarfs were to merge, and the resulting body had more than that critical mass, then it would theoretically start fusion and become a bona fide star." [See source.]

So, as you can read, even if Jupiter were to collapse even further, it is about 1/80 of the mass needed to start nuclear fusion. I'm afraid the scifi of the 2001 movie is mostly fiction and not science.

Answer 5

It's possible. It's also possible that the alien monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey are planning on collapsing Jupiter, to turn it into a second sun in our solar system, and creating planets out of it's moons.

Hey, in 6 million years, anything can happen, right?

Answer 6

No, jupiter does not have the mass neccessary to fuse hydrogen into helium. And it could not attract the sun's past mass, because the sun is going to explode, and jupiter is going to be blown away, just like the Earth.

Answer 7

No.

There is insufficient mass to accomplish that gigantic feat. And, the Sun will still maintain its own gravity. All of this is forecasted to occur in about 5 billion years, so I would not become agitated about it right now. We will all be long gone before it happens.

Answer 8

not with the amount of mass it has. it could become a brown star.

Answer 9

no but it can for it's moons.
People are tring to find life on europa(moon of jupiter) and Jupiter's heat may help the moon has water on it.

Answer 10

Nope. It won't happen.