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To: Tell It Right

https://www.thoughtco.com/could-jupiter-become-a-star-4136163

If we took one of the smallest known stars (OGLE-TR-122b, Gliese 623b, and AB Doradus C) and replaced Jupiter with it, there would be a star with about 100 times the mass of Jupiter. Yet, the star would be less than 1/300th as bright as the Sun. If Jupiter somehow gained that much mass, it would only be about 20% bigger than it is now, much more dense, and maybe 0.3% as bright as the Sun. Since Jupiter is 4 times further from us than the Sun, we’d only see an increased energy of about 0.02%, which is much less than the difference in energy we get from annual variations in the course of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. In other words, Jupiter turning into a star would have little to no impact on Earth. Possibly the bright star in the sky might confuse some organisms that use moonlight, because Jupiter-the-star would be about 80 times brighter than the full moon. Also, the star would be red and bright enough to be visible during the day.

According to Robert Frost, an instructor and flight controller at NASA, if Jupiter gained the mass to become a star the orbits of the inner plants would be largely unaffected, while a body 80 times more massive than Jupiter would affect the orbits of Uranus, Neptune, and especially Saturn. The more massive Jupiter, whether it became a star or not, would only affect objects within approximately 50 million kilometers.


So no. Lots of other reasons though.


10 posted on 11/18/2019 7:33:21 AM PST by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget (TRUMP TRAIN !!! Get the hell out of the way if you are not on yet because we don't stop for idiots)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget
Your focus on the luminosity aspect is valid. But I was thinking more of problems with gravitational shifts. I was thinking of the planets in binary systems having orbits that occasionally shift in and out of the much touted "goldilocks zone" for liquid water. I was also thinking of the increased tectonic activity on a planet due to the presence of a massive 2nd object periodically coming "close". Last but not least would be the constantly changing radiation levels on the planet.

Take our own Jupiter as it is. It's just far enough away to not cause harmful tectonic activity on Earth. But it's also just close enough to absorb harmful objects into its massive gravity well that might hit the earth more often than occurs (i.e. asteroids and comets). Almost as if Someone made sure things were set up juuuuussst right. Binary systems, it seems to me, would require even more fine tuning for advanced life on one of their planets.

11 posted on 11/18/2019 8:09:11 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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