Transcript Jupiter: A Failed Star?

Jupiter: A Failed Star?
The Solar System with two stars.
By: Kevin Korinek
Facts about Jupiter
 Weight: 317.8 Earth Masses
 Distance: 5.203 AU
 Known Satellites: 63 (as of
2003)
 4 Large (Galilean) satellites
 Light colored zones are rising
gases (cooling as they rise)
 Dark Colored belts are sinking
and being reheated

http://www.chara.gsu.edu/~mcswain/Astr1010/chapter13.pdf
 Contains about the same
amount of H and He as the
sun
 Due to it’s failure as a star?
 Radiates 1.5 times the
amount of heat it receives.
Jupiter vs. The Sun
 Jupiter is .1% of the Sun’s Mass
 Both Comprised Mainly of Hydrogen and
Helium
http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Projects/galileo_probe/htmls/Relativ
e_composition.html
Jupiter… How close was it to a
star?
 “If it had been any denser, it might have ignited,
like our Sun. Instead, Jupiter has remained a giant
storm of hot, swirling gases. “
(http://www.maxpages.com/masterplanet/JUPITER_PLANET)
 If it had been 4 times more massive, it would have
been a star.
 At this point it would have undergone
Thermonuclear fusion and “Ignited”
 We can learn from Jupiter to see how Protostars
appear, before the fusion processes begin.
Jupiter as a Star
 If we were a binary
system, a planet would
be the same
temperature as earth if it
were at 1.4 AU (Mars is
at 1.6 AU).
 Most Binary Stars have
eccentric orbits, it is
difficult for bodies to
exist.
 Had Jupiter ignited life
could not have existed
on earth.
Binary Systems
 Alpha Centauri A and B
 Average of 23 AU apart (ranges from 11 to 35 AU)
 Each star has a safe zone of 3 AU away (planets
could survive)
 Planets outside the safe zone would be ejected
 Approximately 2/3 of all stars are in a binary
system
 1/2 of the stars near to the sun are Multiple systems
Types of Binary
 Six Main Types:
 Apparent
 Only appear to be related, normally great distances apart.
 Astrometric
 Only one of the stars can be seen through a telescope.
 Eclipsing
 One star eclipses the other temporarily lowering
the brightness.
Types of Binary Systems
 Spectroscopic
 Absence of resolution of any star through a
telescope
 Spectrum
 No star can be resolved
 Visual
 Both stars can be resolved through a telescope
Extraterrestrial Life
 Binary Systems
 If Jupiter became a
star, no earth.
 Smallest change
 Strict guidelines for
life
 Majority Stars,
Multiple star system
 Stronger Gravity
 More Mass taken up
It’s a good thing we aren’t a binary
system
 We wouldn’t exist
 But that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible
 Life is very specific
 Smallest changes can be harmful
 But they can also be beneficial
 THE END!