Strands 259. Would You Look At That
Quizzes & Puzzles0 min ago
Jupiter
5 Answers
Arthur C Clarke, in his sci-fi "Space Odyssey" series, mentions something about a 'Black Slab, filled with stars'. This object later ignited the gas giant Jupiter and turned it into another Sun.
Assuming that one of the gas giants could be ignited and turned into a new Sun...
Would Jupiter be the first choice?
What effect would it have on the Earth and all its living things?
How long would it burn for?
Do all the gas giants have solid centres?
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I would have to say that Jupiter would be the first choice. New observations are showing that planets round other stars have larger masses than Jupiter. Some are just about large enough to be brown dwarfs. These are a type of failed star. They are failed in the sense that they do not have enough mass for there to be a self sustaining fusion reaction in the core. The larger the planet's mass the closer it is to being a star in it's own right. Jupiter has the most mass of any planet in the solar system, so this would be the logical choice if you wanted to create another star. Going by another story by Kevin J Anderson (Saga of Seven Suns series), they start the first book with humans igniting a gas giant planet in another star system to create a short lived sun and then attempting to terraform this planet's moons for human colonisation. The effect on earth would probably be fairly insignificant in terms of heat. The mean Earth Jupiter distance is four times that of the sun earth distance. Its radius is also 10% of that ot the sun. Giving a heat/light giving surface area of approximately 1% of that of the sun. Even if Jupiter had the same heat output as the sun it's mean distance means it only would only give the earth 1/16th of the heat of the sun. (This is the inverse-square law). The light output however, may interfere with nature, as it would be in the sky for over 6 months of the year, and probably have comparable brightness with the moon, if not brighter.
In the Saga of Seven Suns, it is estimated that the sun would burn for approximatley 100,000 years. Not long by the standard of the sun, but plenty in terms of human timescales.
I would have to say that Jupiter would be the first choice. New observations are showing that planets round other stars have larger masses than Jupiter. Some are just about large enough to be brown dwarfs. These are a type of failed star. They are failed in the sense that they do not have enough mass for there to be a self sustaining fusion reaction in the core. The larger the planet's mass the closer it is to being a star in it's own right. Jupiter has the most mass of any planet in the solar system, so this would be the logical choice if you wanted to create another star. Going by another story by Kevin J Anderson (Saga of Seven Suns series), they start the first book with humans igniting a gas giant planet in another star system to create a short lived sun and then attempting to terraform this planet's moons for human colonisation. The effect on earth would probably be fairly insignificant in terms of heat. The mean Earth Jupiter distance is four times that of the sun earth distance. Its radius is also 10% of that ot the sun. Giving a heat/light giving surface area of approximately 1% of that of the sun. Even if Jupiter had the same heat output as the sun it's mean distance means it only would only give the earth 1/16th of the heat of the sun. (This is the inverse-square law). The light output however, may interfere with nature, as it would be in the sky for over 6 months of the year, and probably have comparable brightness with the moon, if not brighter.
In the Saga of Seven Suns, it is estimated that the sun would burn for approximatley 100,000 years. Not long by the standard of the sun, but plenty in terms of human timescales.
The gas giants are believed to all have solid cores. They are mostly made up of lighter element such as Hydrogen and Helium. At the great depths of the planet, their own atmospheres crush the material below. This pressure can cause the Hydrogen to be compressed into a metallic liquid. Ate the centre of the planets the pressure is so large that the material beocomes solid.If you want figures for actual brightness and how long it can burn for I can do them, but I probably should do them later, whne i'm not at work.
OK CT, thanks for that, and you don't have to go into technicallities...I don't have that sort of brain! I'm not really trying to baffle boffins with boffin baffling questions y'know. I'm seriously interested in all the replies I get - as long as the answers are in layman's language.
I have a very keen interest in sci-fi - Arthur C Clarke's novels in particular - although he does have a habit of leaving you with a lot of loose ends (the Rama series' for instance). And I haven't a clue where he's going with "Time's Eye" - maybe all will be explained in the sequel.
Isaac Asimov's Robot series' were brilliant if we could all have a "Daneel" to look after us we'd live forever!
I haven't heard of Kevin J Anderson, but I'll look him up.
Thanks again CT.
Not really sure about most of them, but I guess Europa might warm up sufficiently for it's ice to melt. Might perhaps steam off, but not entirely certain. Callisto and Ganymede are rocky moons, so perhaps not much changing there. Io is already a hell planet. Most volcanically active world in the solar system that we know of. Poison everywhere on the surface. Then warming it up as well. Nice place that'd be.
Asimov is excellent, love the Foundation series. Arthur C Clarke is usually pretty accurate scientifically as well. Probably responsible for geostationary satellites too.
Asimov is excellent, love the Foundation series. Arthur C Clarke is usually pretty accurate scientifically as well. Probably responsible for geostationary satellites too.
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