At 06:07 PM Monday 5/8/2006, Xponent wrote:
I got questions for the astronomy folks<G>
How large can a terrestrial planet be? (In multiples of Earth masses
preferably)
A guy at work was telling me about some book he read, "the science behind
superheroes" or somesuch.
He goes on about Supermans powers saying "For Superman to be able to jump
1/8 mile, Krypton would have to be 15 times more massive than Earth
I suppose he means that the surface gravity would have to be 15 × Earths??
which is impossible because that would make it a gas giant or made from
exotic matter"
Sort of like "unstable molecules"?
Inside my head red lights flashed and sirens blared
That must be very distracting, if not outright painful.
and I called "bullshit"
on him (or the author of the book perhaps).
The fellow I was talking with ordinarily impresses me as being fairly
bright, but being informed that Jupiter is only 5 times larger (or even more
massive)
than Earth puts something of a strain on my ability to hold a conversation.
???
The mass of Jupiter is 318 times the mass of
Earth. It's equatorial diameter is 11 times
Earth's (because it rotates so quickly and is
made of light materials, it's polar diameter is only 10 times Earth's).
A little searching identifies his book for me: The Physics of Superheroes
by James Kakalios
Anyone read this or seen it? I'm wondering if the guy just garbled what he
had read.
It looks as if Kakalios posits Krypton being 15 times denser than Earth
besides being 15 times more massive. I suppose that means Krypton takes up
the same volume as Earth.
IIRC one of the extrasolar planets discovered in
the past few years is about 6 or 7 Earth masses
and is thought to be possibly solid rather than gaseous.
Better than living on a gas giant I suppose. <G>
Given current prices at the pump, maybe not . . .
xponent
Juvenile Arguments Maru
Me, Too Maru
--Ronn! :)
"Since I was a small boy, two states have been
added to our country and two words have been
added to the pledge of Allegiance... UNDER
GOD. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that
is a prayer and that would be eliminated from schools too?"
-- Red Skelton
(Someone asked me to change my .sig quote back, so I did.)
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
