Me goggles are fogged, wait that’s better, um okay, well If you took Jupiter and you doubled it or tripled up until the point where we began to obtain a low mass star (my understanding of the following:

http://exoplanet.eu/catalog/all_fields/

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/02/14/no-theres-no-proof-of-a-giant-planet-in-the-outer-solar-system/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_dwarf

) then that number of Jupiter’s is somewhere around 80Mj (I take it that is Jupiter Masses). . . where we get a mass high enough to sustain hydrogen-1 fusion core reactions.
This fusion reaction in the core is a characteristic of a possible low mass star. I say possible because we are currently a bit unaware as to whether a planet will phase in and out of the hydrogen to helium fusion? At which point a brown dwarf may become a star. One thing to consider with this hypothetical experiment is that I have 80 Jupiter’s and not a mix of 80 different worlds with different make-ups, though I don’t claim to know if that is that important.

I see deuterium does fuse at amphioximately 13 Mj and lithium somewhere around 65 Mj in some brown dwarfs or giant planets. How to distinguish between planets and stars?

The idea that to become a star . . . assuming the planet is struggling to make its way to becoming a star and not just raging with conditions (density, mass, material) sufficient for h fusion, assuming that this planet is roiling, spinning, collapsing and pushing out on itself in its attempt to find equilibrium in becoming a star or resisting the starry Life that at the point of fusion it just might not turn right on . . . the planet being in an immense struggle to collapse on itself and to fuse hydrogen that maybe a tug-o-war between fusion and collapse begins thus giant planets sometimes have to mature awhile maybe. We have this giant planet – going – star.

And now we have to go to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram? Ok to see the main sequence we have to look at this plot. A plot of 22,000 stars and it is named Hertzsprung-Russell? So

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertzsprung%E2%80%93Russell_diagram

So this diagram of some stellar evolution shows us some things which right now I am thinking how long am I going to have to contemplate this diagram in order to understand it but a quick analysis has me guessing that all different types of sizes planets form into stars many many different ways at different points in their lifetime. Well, I guess that is what I would expect, an unbelievably believable set of criteria which form magnificent stellar objects and do big things. Skimming around I see all the labels from the graph. Labels are good.

Argh, me goggles are foggin

“Well, not really that close. ”

Yup, I guess about 80 Jupiter’s is about the lowest for hydrogen fusion at the core and I wonder if that changes with differently layered gas giants…if they are layered at all. I wonder how long it takes for the surface go through its evolution to a star…I am guessing they need material to continue.Even at 80 Jupiter masses we are still close to 1/900 of the Sun or somewhere in there. It is interesting to think an object that much smaller than the sun might become a star and or die as one. How
could you not love this stuff.

And amphiox I am going to “intervene” on Jupiter approximately how? Though when it comes to stars Jupiter has a long ways to go compared to us humans . . . well, maybe jus’ maybe an intervention will be inline…in 10 billion years or so when we are not even the milky way galaxy anymore and the dust from this screen has been reused in more ways than I have keyboard skills to explain, possibly in Jupiter I suppose that is one way humans might intervene on Jupiter, although I don’t think the solar system evolution models show it happening that way.

@10. Brian : Yep.

@12. Blaise Pascal : Very True. LOL. Although given how cloudy it’d make our skies as a consequence – not to mention toxic and inflammable – it’d be hard to see it!

Man Jupiter is epic.

Thinking seriously about how stupendous Jupiter is boggles the mind. And then you realize that there are exoplanets out there that are 10 times more massive and behemoths 2-5X more massive are are not that rare, and the boggle gets boggled.

I was just thinking about how Jupiter was so close to becoming a star but never made it.

Well, not really that close. Getting only to 1/80th of the way, via a formation mechanism that probably never gave it a chance of getting that much bigger anyways, isn’t really THAT close….

Then I started thinking maybe some day in the astronomical future Jupiter might have its chance to become a star.

That will take intelligent intervention. And assuming that the Monolith builders of 2001 don’t actually exist, it will have to be us humans….

Jupiter has enough volume to fit the sum of the volumes but I don’t think you could fit the planets themselves in there simply due to Saturn + Neptune (or Uranus) radius > Jupiter radius.

However, if you were to place Saturn and Neptune in atmosphere-to-atmosphere contact, their mutual gravitational attraction would cause them to merge and form one slightly larger planet. And this amalgamation would indeed fit within Jupiter’s diameter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_and_evolution_of_the_Solar_System

I scrolled down to “Timeline of Solar System evolution”. If the solar system can survive the merger with Andromeda I like the idea of Titan becoming habitable. Life can be so cool! I mean sure, we could have had like x amount of like earths in our own system but to have Mars, essentially like a kick-starter planet and massive Jupiter and the different moons . . . well, some coincidence. I guess you might think to find well evolved planets like the Earth in places that were far from anywhere but when your in space whats anywhere? Well, others have pondered the future and the times more poetically.

Yes, but it’s such USEFUL rubble. We could build another 3000 earths with that “stuff”…So much room for dolphins and whales and bears…oh my…

Gary 7
Oh yeah, and people too…