From: Hara Ra (harara@shamanics.com)
Date: Wed Jan 01 1997 - 01:07:22 MST
Eugene Leitl wrote:
>
> I've never seen a definite answer to a recurring pet idea of mine: to
> (transiently) stellify Jupiter by means of a nuke detonated in its
> metallic (or at least somewhere deep enough where hydrogen is
> sufficiently dense) hydrogen layer. You know, it's Christmas, and
> twinkle, twinkle. Why not?
>
Two problems here. First, thermonuclear devices depend on the heavier
isotopes of
hydrogen or lithium, both of which are scarce in Jupiter. Second, the
minimum
size of a star is about 8% that of the sun. If Jupiter is heated enough
to ignite, the gravitation will not contain the reaction.
The third objection I have is that igniting Jupiter seems to be an awful
waste
of resources, for it represents a huge cool mass out of the solar
gravitational
well...
O---------------------------------O
| Hara Ra <harara@shamanics.com> |
| Box 8334 Santa Cruz, CA 95061 |
O---------------------------------O
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