5 ms·

Is Jupiter a Failed Star?

6 points by areoform 4y ago

h2odragon 4y ago
"failed" is so final. It may just not have succeed yet. Perhap some future iteration of life in this solar system will decide to light it artificially to provide a nightlight for the inner planets and make asteroid belt farming more fun.
- EdwardDiego 4y ago
  All of these worlds are yours. Except Europa. Attempt no landing there.
  - spindle 4y ago
    I know this is massively (pun not intended) off topic, but why was the issue landing on Europa? What about all the other ways of interfering like sending drones to hover in the atmosphere? Did Arthur C. Clarke not think it through? This has been bothering me for decades!
    - ianai 4y ago
      Clearly us crazy monkeys aren’t going to stop in orbit without touching down and touching the monolith. More seriously I got the impression from summaries of the story that some alien force was influencing life on Europa.
    - EdwardDiego 4y ago
      Earth bacteria maybe?
      - spindle 4y ago
        Good thought. Thank you. I suspect also failure to think it through, but your answer exculpates him at least a bit.
    - EdwardDiego 4y ago
      Another answer on this, in the epilogue, every probe that tried to penetrate the atmosphere was destroyed, so maybe "attempt no landings" was to prevent human casualties, as it was manned missions that they were communicating to in the orbit of Jupiter.
- ianai 4y ago
  But what if some form of exotic life has formed there? I wonder if adding Jupiter to the sun could hasten or stall the suns current epoch of fusing hydrogen. I’ve heard it could envelope the earth in a billion years, for reference.
hirundo 4y ago
Jupiter is a failed star in the same sense that it is a failed black hole. It failed to accumulate the necessary mass. On the same basis I am also a failed black hole. That's a decent enough epitaph. Hirundo, good chap, but never achieved the Schwarzschild radius, shame really. Jupiter should take a good look at itself and realize, I'm good enough as I am darn it!
- akolbe 4y ago
  :)
- GauntletWizard 4y ago
  This is my new excuse - "I'm not fat, I'm working on my Schwarzschild radius"

6 points by areoform 4y ago

"failed" is so final. It may just not have succeed yet. Perhap some future iteration of life in this solar system will decide to light it artificially to provide a nightlight for the inner planets and make asteroid belt farming more fun.

EdwardDiego 4y ago
All of these worlds are yours. Except Europa. Attempt no landing there.
- spindle 4y ago
  I know this is massively (pun not intended) off topic, but why was the issue landing on Europa? What about all the other ways of interfering like sending drones to hover in the atmosphere? Did Arthur C. Clarke not think it through? This has been bothering me for decades!
  - ianai 4y ago
    Clearly us crazy monkeys aren’t going to stop in orbit without touching down and touching the monolith. More seriously I got the impression from summaries of the story that some alien force was influencing life on Europa.
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    Earth bacteria maybe?
    - spindle 4y ago
      Good thought. Thank you. I suspect also failure to think it through, but your answer exculpates him at least a bit.
  - EdwardDiego 4y ago
    Another answer on this, in the epilogue, every probe that tried to penetrate the atmosphere was destroyed, so maybe "attempt no landings" was to prevent human casualties, as it was manned missions that they were communicating to in the orbit of Jupiter.
ianai 4y ago
But what if some form of exotic life has formed there? I wonder if adding Jupiter to the sun could hasten or stall the suns current epoch of fusing hydrogen. I’ve heard it could envelope the earth in a billion years, for reference.

hirundo 4y ago

Jupiter is a failed star in the same sense that it is a failed black hole. It failed to accumulate the necessary mass. On the same basis I am also a failed black hole. That's a decent enough epitaph. Hirundo, good chap, but never achieved the Schwarzschild radius, shame really. Jupiter should take a good look at itself and realize, I'm good enough as I am darn it!

akolbe 4y ago
:)
GauntletWizard 4y ago
This is my new excuse - "I'm not fat, I'm working on my Schwarzschild radius"