Can we ignite Jupiter?

Objects less massive than that can never achieve the core temperatures required for thermonuclear reactions. This corresponds to about 13 times the mass of Jupiter, meaning that Jupiter itself is incapable of ever 'igniting'.

What could ignite Jupiter?

Jupiter is mostly made of hydrogen, in order to turn it into a giant fireball you'd need oxygen to burn it.

Can Jupiter ignite become a star?

A: Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, weighing more than twice as much as all the other planets combined. But it still falls far short of the heft needed to ignite nuclear fusion and become a star.

Can Jupiter be lit?

There isn't enough oxygen in the entire Solar System for this to happen. Sorry to disappoint you. But Jupiter won't erupt in flames anytime soon. And before you try to get creative with your methods, let me tell you that even the most energetic impact that ever occurred on the gas giant didn't cause a single spark.

What would happen if we lit fire on Jupiter?

Nothing. On Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune there's no oxygen (O2) to sustain combustion. I doubt your match would even light in the first place. Oxygen binds very readily with hydrogen and carbon to produce water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which are more stable than diatomic oxygen.

What If Jupiter Became a Star?

Is Jupiter a failed star?

"Jupiter is called a failed star because it is made of the same elements (hydrogen and helium) as is the Sun, but it is not massive enough to have the internal pressure and temperature necessary to cause hydrogen to fuse to helium, the energy source that powers the sun and most other stars.

What if you lit a match on Titan?

You're quite correct that Titan wouldn't blow up if you struck a match because there is no free oxygen present. In fact the match wouldn't even light.

What if Jupiter and Saturn collided?

If Jupiter and Saturn collided, they would begin to merge. Their atmospheres would mix. That would raise the temperatures in the top layers of the gas giant's atmosphere. It would get so hot that Jupiter would experience a chemical reaction, gaining more iron, silicates and even water.

Is Saturn a failed star?

In short, no. Saturn may have the same composition as the sun, but it could never possess the mass required to transform into a star. It would need its mass to be a minimum of 50 times greater than it currently is. There is not nearly enough material orbiting the sun for this to happen.

Can a planet have 2 suns?

Can a planet really have two suns? While many things about Star Wars are purely fictional, it turns out that planets orbiting two or more stars is not one of them. In 2011, NASA embarked on the Kepler mission, exploring the Milky Way galaxy to find other habitable planets.

Is Jupiter hot or cold?

It is estimated that the temperature of the cloud tops are about -280 degrees F. Overall, Jupiter's average temperature is -238 degrees F.

Is Titan flammable?

On Titan, the clouds and rain are formed of liquid methane. On Earth, methane is a flammable gas, but Titan has no oxygen in its atmosphere that could support combustion. Also, the temperatures on Titan are so cold -- minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 149 degrees Celsius) -- that the methane can form liquid.

Is Jupiter getting bigger?

Since these atoms become neutrally charged, they can easily escape Jupiter's magnetic field and float off into space. This slow but constant loss of mass from Jupiter's atmosphere is actually greater than the gain in mass from collisions so, overall, Jupiter is shrinking not growing in mass.

Is fusion happening in Jupiter?

Even though Jupiter doesn't create its own energy through fusion, it does emit more energy than it receives from the sun. Its core still radiates with heat left over from its formation at the dawn of the solar system.

Can Earth become a star?

No. In order for a star to sustain itself, fusion must take place to avoid collapse due to gravity. The earth is made from heavy elements (nickel, iron, etc) which are nearly impossible to fuse in stars. Therefore, due to this, the Earth cannot be a star due to the addition of more mass.

Can a black hole pull in a planet?

Fortunately, this has never happened to anyone — black holes are too far away to pull in any matter from our solar system. But scientists have observed black holes ripping stars apart, a process that releases a tremendous amount of energy.

Is the sun getting bigger?

Because the Sun continues to 'burn' hydrogen into helium in its core, the core slowly collapses and heats up, causing the outer layers of the Sun to grow larger. This has been going on since soon after the Sun was formed 4.5 billion years ago.

Will the Sun explode?

While the full death of the Sun is still trillions of years away, some scientists believe the current phase of the Sun's life cycle will end as soon as 5 billion years from now. At that point, the massive star at the center of our Solar System will have eaten through most of its hydrogen core.

What if Earth had rings?

At the equator, the rings would appear to divide the sun, casting a dramatic shadow over half the world. Likewise, the rings themselves would cast shadows on Earth.

Does Jupiter have a solid surface?

Surface. As a gas giant, Jupiter doesn't have a true surface. The planet is mostly swirling gases and liquids. While a spacecraft would have nowhere to land on Jupiter, it wouldn't be able to fly through unscathed either.

Why doesn't the planet Uranus explode if it contains so much hydrogen and methane?

The atmosphere of the planet Uranus contains mostly hydrogen, helium, and methane. Interestingly, the methane in the atmosphere is what gives Uranus its distinctive blue color. Since Uranus contains effectively zero free oxygen, the hydrogen and methane in the atmosphere does not burn or explode.

What happens if you light a match in space?

In zero gravity, there is no up or down. That means the heat generated by the match will not cause the air to rise and isn't being replenished with fresh oxygen. That also means the match flame will appear dimmer than it would in Earth's atmosphere.

Will our sun become a supernova?

No supernova, no black hole

Our sun isn't massive enough to trigger a stellar explosion, called a supernova, when it dies, and it will never become a black hole either. In order to create a supernova, a star needs about 10 times the mass of our sun.

Is Jupiter only gas?

Jupiter is composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter, with denser matter beneath. It's upper atmosphere is composed of about 88–92% hydrogen and 8–12% helium by percent volume of gas molecules, and approx. 75% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, with the remaining one percent consisting of other elements.