Science

Judi Lynn

(160,516 posts) Fri May 22, 2020, 11:43 PM May 2020

Jupiter Is So Huge, Our Solar System Almost Had Two Suns

PAUL M. SUTTER, UNIVERSE TODAY22 MAY 2020

About half of all the star systems in the galaxy are made of pairs or triplets of stars.

Our Solar System features just one star, the Sun, and a host of (relatively) small planets. But it was almost not the case, and Jupiter got right on the edge of becoming the Sun's smaller sibling.

Jupiter, the biggest planet in the Solar System, is by far the largest. If you added up the masses of all the other planets, it wouldn't even come to half of the mass of Jupiter.

You could eliminate every single planet in the Solar System except Jupiter, and you would basically still have... the Solar System.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/jupiter-is-so-huge-our-solar-system-almost-had-two-suns

7 replies

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Highlight:

Jupiter Is So Huge, Our Solar System Almost Had Two Suns (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2020 OP

Do you remember, at the end of 2010... Jeebo May 2020 #1

The Video ItsjustMe May 2020 #2

Going from memory SCantiGOP May 2020 #4

Arthur C Clarke knew this... wcmagumba May 2020 #3

Sounds familiar... Beartracks May 2020 #5

needing it to be 20 times larger qazplm135 May 2020 #6

in a galaxy a long time ago... Javaman May 2020 #7

Jeebo

(2,023 posts)

1. Do you remember, at the end of 2010...

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Fri May 22, 2020, 11:57 PM

May 2020

...the monoliths started multiplying on Jupiter and increased its mass until it ignited and became a second sun in the Earth's sky. The idea was that the mass of Jupiter was sufficient that it only required that small extra nudge to make the transition to a small star. And then Jupiter and its moons became a sort of small second solar system, and the enigmatic, nameless, faceless entities who made the monoliths and engineered this celestial wonder sent us humans a message, "All these worlds are yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing there." Apparently there were some evolving life forms in the deep oceans on Europa that there was to be no interference with.

-- Ron