QUESTION:
Would Jupiter be able to turn into a star?
If it could, when would it happen,and why?

ANSWER from Tom McMahon on October 25, 1995:
My name is Tom McMahon. I am a researcher from the University of Chicago.

Jupiter will never be able to turn into a star. The reason why is
that Jupiter is too small. It would need to be 100 times more massive
for the thermo-nuclear reactions to begin inside Jupiter.

The force that triggers the thermo-nuclear reactions is gravity. Gravity
pulls all the gas of a star towards the center until the pressures are high
enough to start the nuclear reactions.

Astronomers have found stars called "brown dwarves" which
are about 100 times smaller than our own sun and 100 time larger
than Jupiter. These brown dwarves are the smallest and coolest stars
known to us. Jupiter would need to grown 100 times for gravity to
compress the insides enough for the planet to turn into a star

Thank you for the question....

Tom McMahon