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Re: Jupiter (was PERIHELION etc.)



Ludwik,

More speculation with regard to Jupiter's power production mechanism:

The gravitational binding energy of a spherical mass is ~ G*M^2/R, so
gravitational contraction would "release energy" (sorry Jim) at a
rate of

dU/dt ~ (G*M^2/R^2)*dR/dt

You inferred a net power out of 1x10^19 W which, given Jupiter's mass
of 2x10^27 kg and radius of 7x10^7 m, could be produced with a
contraction rate of

dR/dt ~ 2 Angstrom/s ~ 6x10^6 m/Gyr

This would almost certainly be undetectable, but it also seems
perhaps an order of magnitude larger than I might find reasonable.

--
John Mallinckrodt mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm