Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Speaking of good Sci-Fi

re: Speaking of good Sci-Fi
Tom Brosz — (archived)

In "2010," Clarke "ignited" Jupiter by adding an enormous amount of mass using billions of those magic monoliths, which can apparently be created from nothing. In real life, nothing could do this. Current estimates are that Jupiter would have to absorb 80 times its current mass to create a sustainable fusion reaction.

Ignition of any gas mix requires a burnable substance (hydrogen, for example) and an appropriate amount of an oxidizer (oxygen, for example.) Since the atmosphere of Jupiter has been in its current state for billions of years, and as R.L. points out, is constantly exposed to lightning, it would be safe to say that the mix is in about as low an energy state as it's going to get. In other words, you ain't going to ignite it.

As an aside, oxidizers will tend to combine sooner or later with other substances and disappear from an atmosphere. Free oxygen in any large amounts in an atmosphere means that something is using energy to generate it to replace what would normally disappear. On Earth, this is plant life. A large amount of oxygen detected in a planetary atmosphere around another star would be a red flag for possible life.

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