The concept of turning Jupiter right into a “Second Solar” has lengthy been a staple of science fiction, most notably in Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010: Odyssey Two. However might we really obtain this in actuality? If we have been to drop an enormous nuclear or hydrogen bomb into its environment, would the gasoline big ignite?
The quick reply is: No. Right here is the deep dive into why Jupiter stays a “failed star” and why even probably the most highly effective human weapons can’t change that.
The Fable of the “Spark”
One widespread false impression is that Jupiter is solely a large ball of gasoline ready for a “match” to strike. Since Jupiter’s environment consists primarily of hydrogen and helium—the identical elements that energy the Solar—it’s tempting to assume that a big sufficient explosion might set off a sequence response.
Nonetheless, stars don’t burn like a forest hearth. They function on the precept of nuclear fusion, which is basically completely different from chemical combustion. To start out fusion, you don’t simply want warmth; you want an amazing, sustained quantity of stress and gravity.
The Mass Drawback: Why Jupiter is Too Mild
In astrophysics, mass is king. For a celestial physique to develop into a star, its core should be sizzling and dense sufficient to pressure hydrogen atoms to fuse into helium. This course of requires temperatures exceeding 10 million levels Celsius.
Whereas Jupiter is the biggest planet in our photo voltaic system, it’s nonetheless far too small to generate that type of inner stress.
The Crucial Threshold
Present astrophysical fashions counsel that for a gasoline big to provoke secure nuclear fusion, it could want a minimal mass of roughly 7% to 7.5% of the Solar’s mass ($M_{odot}$).
To place that in perspective:
Jupiter’s present mass: $approx 0.001 M_{odot}$Minimal Star Mass: $approx 0.075 M_{odot}$
This implies Jupiter would have to be roughly 70 to 80 occasions extra large than it’s in the present day to transition from a planet right into a Pink Dwarf star. Even when it have been 13 occasions extra large, it could solely develop into a Brown Dwarf—a “sub-stellar” object that may fuse deuterium however not abnormal hydrogen.
May We “Add” Sufficient Mass?
A preferred follow-up query is whether or not we might mix different planets to assist Jupiter attain this threshold. Sadly, even that wouldn’t work. In the event you crashed each different planet in our photo voltaic system (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and all of the rocky planets) into Jupiter, its mass would solely improve by a tiny fraction. It might nonetheless be nowhere close to the 80x requirement.
What Would Occur if We Dropped a Nuke?
If we have been to detonate an enormous hydrogen bomb in Jupiter’s environment, the consequence could be visually spectacular however cosmically insignificant.
The Explosion: You’ll see a vibrant flash and a short lived “bruise” within the cloud layers (just like the impression of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994).The Aftermath: Jupiter’s large gravity and atmospheric stress would shortly take in the power. With out the large gravitational stress to maintain a fusion response, the “hearth” would merely exit.
Remaining Ideas
Jupiter is an impressive world that acts as a gravitational protect for Earth, however it isn’t a “star-in-waiting.” It lacks the elemental requirement for stardom: excessive mass. For now, and for the foreseeable future, Jupiter will stay a gasoline big, safely orbiting our one and solely Solar.
