Why is Jupiter a planet?

It's a giant body in space and it has mass. Not enough mass to ignite into a star though. If it had enough mass it probably could ignite and it might have ignited at one time if all the other matter in the solar system hadn't already been used to make other planets. Makes me wonder what those other giant dark bodies out passed the edge of the solar system are.

Originally posted by jiggerj

Originally posted by SplitInfinity
reply to post by jiggerj

 

As far as Classifications....They have broken our Solar System down to 8 Planets with Pluto becoming part of the Kupier Belt or Ort Cloud Planetoids.

Jupiter is so Massive that if it were to be a bit more massive it might have the ability to become a Star. A Star after all is a large enough amount of gas...mostly Hydrogen that by it's own Gravity Well is capable of creating enough pressure to start a Fusion Reaction. This being Hydrogen being Fused into Helium and a immense Thermonuclear Reaction that becomes a Star.

There are so many Moons around certain Planets and there are Planetoids in the Kupier Belt and Ort Cloud that are larger than Mercury that it is just a matter of Classification.

Split Infinity

Good stuff, Split. Can you tell us how a bunch of gas can generate so much gravity? I mean, it's GAS! How much mass could Jupiter have, and it's the mass that makes the gravity, right?

Jupiter has the Mass of 317.83 Earths. 1321.33 Earths could be placed inside the Volume of Jupiter. The Mean Density of Jupiter which is calculated as 1,326 kg/m3 compared to Earth at 5,515 kg/m3 means that Jupiter is 0.24 in Density Ratio to Earth. Still Jupiter is so large it possesses (eq., 1 bar) (m/s2) 2.53 Greater the Ratio than Earth.

Gas is just a state of Matter that is Governed by both Temperature and Pressure. For instance...when you fill up your Propane Tank for your gas grill...the Propane is in a Cold Liquid State and if it were not for the Pressure that the Tank keeps the Propane at...and if the Tank were not built sufficiently enough to contain this Liquid Propane as a Propane Tank in the Sun does heat up both tank and the Liquid Propane but the Liquid Propane stays a Liquid because it has no room to expand to because of the Tank thus remains a Liquid.

Jupiter is comprised of....Atmospheric composition (by volume, uncertainty in parentheses)
Major: Molecular hydrogen (H2) - 89.8% (2.0%); Helium (He) - 10.2% (2.0%)
Minor (ppm): Methane (CH4) - 3000 (1000); Ammonia (NH3) - 260 (40);
Hydrogen Deuteride (HD) - 28 (10); Ethane (C2H6) - 5.8 (1.5);
Water (H2O) - 4 (varies with pressure)
Aerosols: Ammonia ice, water ice, ammonia hydrosulfide.
At Jupiter's core is of some conjecture and it's central core is surrounded by a massive exterior core of Liquid Helium and Hydrogen at a temp. of 16,000 Degrees Kelvin...Hotter than the surface of our Sun and at a Pressure that is 40 MILLION TIMES that of Earths Atmosphere. The Central core that may be rocky with some ice is believed to be melting. This could have issues for our whole solar system but is a debate unto itself.
Split Infinity

Originally posted by lonewolf19792000
It's a giant body in space and it has mass. Not enough mass to ignite into a star though. If it had enough mass it probably could ignite and it might have ignited at one time if all the other matter in the solar system hadn't already been used to make other planets. Makes me wonder what those other giant dark bodies out passed the edge of the solar system are.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the universe (outer space) FILLED with hydrogen? Just googled it and that's the consensus. So, how does so much hydrogen get captured by one planet, and if at one point in time Jupiter was pulling in hydrogen from outer space, why did it stop pulling it in - or is it still doing it?

reply to post by jiggerj

Hydrogen is the Simplest form of an Element or Atom. It has a Nucleus of One Proton and one Electron orbiting that Proton. Hydrogen tends to exist as H2 or a form of Single Element Molecule of Two Hydrogen Atoms that use their two electrons to fill an orbit.

Hydrogen is what Stars are comprised of and these Stars fuse Hydrogen into Helium. As far as Interstellar Space...there is a lot of loose Hydrogen gas scattered through it that was too distant to be caught in the Gravity Wells that formed where large quantities of Hydrogen existed that were drawn by Gravity to become Stars. A Star ignites via Fusion when there is enough of Hydrogen to create the pressure needed to create Fusion. All stars unless effected by another Stars Gravity such as in a close Binary Star System...one Star may grab another Stars Stellar Matter and this will usually cause a Supernova or Nova. Or a Very Large Massive Star will burn very quickly the Majority of it's Hydrogen and Fuse it into Helium. The Star will then expand into a Red Super Giant and when it has fused all it's Hydrogen to Helium...will collapse and perhaps become a Black Hole.

The thing is GRAVITY is NOT A FORCE. Even though it is called the Weak Force...it is not really a Force. Gravity is a Warping of Space/Time that is a Expression of One Dimensionality. Thus the Geometry of Space/Time is changed and this is created by Mass. The Greater the amount of Mass...the Greater the effect and Warping due to Gravity. Split Infinity

The asteroid belt is the area between Mars and Jupiter in which asteroids are located that orbit the sun. These asteroids range in size from about 1 kilometer to many hundreds of kilometers, but are not planets.


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Some good facts, though Jupiter would need about 5-10x the mass to probably start any form of sustaining fusion, most likely starting with tritium or lithium.

It was once said that Pluto was only classified as a planet on the basis that it was the first discovery made by a US team of a large-ish object beyond Neptune. There was a lot of debate back then as to classify it as a planet in the community but since the people who did discover it latched onto it being a planet... thus it became.

Gas giants are a misnomer as has already been discussed.

The asteroid belt is an interesting one. If classical planetary formation occurred in the case of our solar system, then gravitationally there should be a planet between mars and Jupiter. Jupiter is most likely the reason why there isn't.

It is thought that once the sun started fusion, generating a solar wind, it pushed light materials and gases away from the inner solar system, we are left with rocky bodies that formed during that time up until the freeze out distance. This is the distance at which the energy from the sun is not enough to maintain the temperature of the gas and you get a 'condensing' of sorts. This occurs just inside the orbit of jupiter.

It is theorized that A small object had formed were the asteroid belt is today, most of the material that was forming it was pushed away and largely ended up in the regions around Jupiter and Saturn. As Jupiter and Saturn quickly accreted this material, the increasing mass of jupiter was able to make the object(s) between Mars and itself destabilize and slowly break apart.

The Largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres is about half-ish the diameter of pluto, and was never considered a planet. The other largest objects in the asteroid belt are quite oddly shaped abut do appear like they might fit together... all speculation but interesting none the less