Posted on 04/29/2005 10:22:03 PM PDT by neverdem
Thanks! I wasn't too sure of that -- some Arthur C Clarke books are masterpieces -- like Rendezvous with Rama, but some others are real duds. I'm a big Asimov fan -- you>?
Thanks for the ping. I may not alert the list over this. We've had quite a few threads on extra-solar planets lately.
"The planet is about 1,350 trillion miles away from us."
Beam us up Scotty.
C'mon, if you want to know about real science, you shouldn't be reading science fiction stories. In fact, you shouldn't read articles about science topics in the MSM, or scientific magazines aimed at the general public (Discover, Omni, etc.). Stay away from scientific documentaries, as well. As sources of scientific information, they all suck. If you're just looking for entertainment, they're probably okay.
" How the heck can this planet be five times the mass of Jupiter and not start fusing it's lighter elements under it's own extreme gravitational pressure? "
The smallest true star known (with active fusion) has 100 times the mass of Jupiter.
Arthur Clarke's premise in turning Jupiter into a star was to artificially compress the matter to achieve a fusion process. It is not based on the natural mass and gravitational pressure in Jupiter, but a science fiction construct of an advanced civilization.
“Spectroscopic measurements show water vapor in its atmosphere, suggesting that it is cold like a planet and not hot like a star.”
“…..under it's own extreme gravitational pressure?”
With such a strong gravity, how could there be “water vapor in it’s” atmosphere”????
I recently picked up a copy of Clarke's "Fountains of Paradise" just to read his description of a space elevator. What's funny and encouraging about the recent news on the development of a real space elevator is that Clarke has us in the mid 21st Century and already back on the Moon and established on Mars before a substance strong enough and light enough to support a space elevator is discovered.
Alright. How is gravitational pull exerted? How does that kind of attraction have an influence on another body billions of miles away?
Check Gravity after clicking on Mechanics at Hyperphysics.
Great resource, thanks!
Basically, I learned that it takes two bodies acting on each other for either object to react. That while acting upon one another, the bodies exchange massless particles, and the the force of gravity is acting along a line between the centers of the two masses.
I bookmarked it a while ago. As a refresher, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
I was going to say about 80 Jovian masses, but we're both in the same ball park. Basically, to be a naturally formed star whose energy is being supplied by ongoing fusion reactions, you need a minimum of about 0.1 solar masses. Brown dwarfs are what I like to call "stellar wannabes" who got "voted off the island" because they don't quite have the mass it takes to get the job done of initiating AND maintaining an ongoing fusion reaction.
ROTF!
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