Can Jupiter Explode? What You Need To Know

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, with a mass greater than double that of all the other planets combined. Jupiter is worthy of its namesake, who ruled over the Roman gods. Can Jupiter explode?

No, Jupiter would never explode; the notion that it would explode is more fiction than science since Jupiter lacks enough combustible elements to ignite. The only way a planet may explode, according to scientists, is if it collides with another planet of similar size.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest planet in the solar system, with a mass that is more than twice that of all other planets combined. Continue reading to learn more about Jupiter planet.

Watch the video to learn more.

What Will Happen If Jupiter Exploded?

If Jupiter exploded, the objects encircling this gas giant would feel the consequences of this space event within a few hours. 

As high-velocity debris flies away from the explosion location and heads towards the moons, Jupiter’s innermost moons would feel the heat first, followed by the outermost moons.

Can Jupiter Become A Star?

Even though Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, it is still much too light to fuse hydrogen into helium. 

Jupiter cannot and will not spontaneously transform into a star, but if at least 13 other Jupiter-mass objects collide with it, there is a probability that it will.

Why Do Stars Burn?

The burning of stars is caused by thermonuclear events occurring within their cores. Any object with a mass less than or equal to 8% of the Sun’s cannot ignite because the nuclear processes at its core are insufficiently powerful. 

Brown dwarfs refer to stars that lack sufficient mass to ignite.

Can We See Jupiter From Earth With Naked Eyes?

It is one among the five planets visible with the naked eye from Earth (the others are Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter). Despite its distance from Earth, Saturn’s distinctive ring system may make it the most recognizable planet in the Solar System.

Facts About Jupiter

Namesake

Jupiter, the largest planet, derives its name from the ancient Roman king of the gods. The Greeks designated the most prominent and most enormous of the planets Zeus, and the Romans called it Jupiter; he was the most significant deity in both pantheons.

Possibility Of Life

Jupiter’s atmosphere is probably inhospitable to life as we know it. This planet’s temperatures, pressures, and materials are likely too high and unstable for creatures to adapt to.

A few of Jupiter’s many moons are more likely to support life than the planet itself. Europa is one of the most likely places in the solar system to discover extraterrestrial life. There is evidence of a large, potentially habitable ocean lying beneath the planet’s frozen crust.

Size And Distance

Jupiter’s radius of 43,440.7 miles (69,911 kilometres) is eleven times that of Earth’s. If earth were a nickel, Jupiter would be roughly the size of a basketball.

Jupiter is located approximately 484 million miles (778 million kilometres) from the sun. One astronomical unit (au) is the distance between the sun and earth. It takes 43 minutes to travel from the sun to Jupiter at this distance.

Circulation And Rotation

Jupiter has the solar system’s shortest day. Jupiter completes its orbit around the sun (one year in Jovian time) in approximately 12 earth years (4,333 earth days).

Its equator is inclined only 3 degrees relative to its orbital route around the sun. This indicates that Jupiter rotates nearly upright and has milder seasons than other planets.

Moons

Jupiter resembles a tiny solar system with its four major moons and numerous smaller moons. Jupiter has 80 satellites. The international astronomical union has designated official names for fifty-seven moons (IAU). An additional 23 moons await designation.

Galileo Galilei initially sighted Jupiter’s four largest moons, Europapa, Ganymede, and Callisto, in 1610 using an early version of the telescope. Today, these four moons are known as the Galilean satellites, and they are among the most intriguing locations in our solar system. Io is the planet with the most active volcanoes in the solar system. 

Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system (even bigger than the planet Mercury). A very few tiny craters on Callisto suggest a low level of ongoing surface activity. An ocean of liquid water containing the components for life may lie beneath Europa’s icy surface, making it an enticing destination to explore.

Rings

Jupiter’s rings were unexpectedly discovered in 1979 by NASA’s Voyager 1 probe, as they are formed of microscopic, black particles and are difficult to view unless backlit by the sun. Data from the Galileo spacecraft show that Jupiter’s ring system may be created when interplanetary meteoroids collide with the planet’s innermost tiny moons, kicking up dust.

Formation

Jupiter took form when the rest of the solar system formed some 4.5 billion years ago, when the planet’s gravity drew gas and dust together to form this gas giant. Jupiter absorbed the most of the mass remaining after the birth of the sun, accumulating more than twice as much material as the other planets in the solar system. 

Jupiter has the same components as a star, yet it never grew large enough to ignite. Jupiter settled into its current position in the outer solar system, where it is the fifth planet from the sun, some four billion years ago.

Structure

Jupiter shares a composition like the sun, consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium. Deep in the atmosphere, increasing pressure and temperature compress hydrogen gas into a liquid state. This gives Jupiter the largest ocean in the solar system, a hydrogen ocean rather than a water ocean. 

Scientists believe that at depths perhaps halfway to the planet’s core, the pressure gets so intense that electrons are squeezed off hydrogen atoms, transforming the liquid into a metal-like conductor.

 Jupiter’s rapid spin is theorised to generate the planet’s enormous magnetic field by driving electrical currents in this region. It is still unknown if Jupiter’s central core consists of solid material or a thick, superheated, dense soup. There may be temperatures of up to 90,032 degrees Fahrenheit (50,000 degrees Celsius), primarily composed of iron and silicate minerals (similar to quartz).

Surface

As a gas giant, Jupiter lacks a solid surface. The majority of the world is composed of gases and liquids. Even though a spaceship could not land on Jupiter, it would not be able to fly through unharmed. Deep within the planet, the high pressures and temperatures crush, melt and destroy any spacecraft attempting to enter.

Conclusion

An explosion on Jupiter is primarily a work of fiction, as there is no scientific theory that could effectively model such an event. Moreover, Jupiter’s atmosphere is not explosive, and you could not even light a match on the planet’s surface, let alone cause it to explode.

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