Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is very similar to the sun with its constituent elements. in Jupiter 89% hydrogen, 11% helium; The sun contains 78% hydrogen and 19% helium.
If Jupiter is so similar to the sun, why can’t it be a star like the sun?
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The sun obtains its heat energy through nuclear fusion. The core of the sun is 16 million degrees Celsius. Jupiter’s core is about 33,000 degrees Celsius, or 500 times colder than the sun.
In fact, the factor that prevents Jupiter from burning like the sun is its mass. If Jupiter were 60 times more massive than its current mass, it would be a star like the sun.
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having more mass would have trapped Jupiter under its gravitational pull; so thermonuclear reactions would begin and Jupiter could become a bright star about 100,000 miles in diameter.
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