Beefbisquit
Well-Known Member
If the sun just disappeared would it take 8 mins and 20 seconds (that's how long it takes light to get to earth from the sun) for the earth to fly off it's axis, or would it be instantaneous?
Always wondered this;
- Thread starter Beefbisquit
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kermit2692
Well-Known Member
it would happen right away but we wouldnt know what was happening beacuse we wouldnt see the sun move or vanish before we were..well...gone
kermit2692
Well-Known Member
then agaaaaain....if anyone has watched anything about parallel universes they have proven that if humans dont make choice on things both options will happen so if no one can percieve the sun disappearing then maybe nothing would happen until the light went out....or maybe thats why stuff like that cant happen because beings cant fabricate that existence into real life.....
Beefbisquit
Well-Known Member
So, you're both suggesting that the speed at which gravity acts is faster than the speed of light?
Yes, the effect would be instant, how big of an effect I don't know. I imagine a wheel that suddenly looses its balancing weights would be a similar effect on a much larger scale.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
There'd be 8:20 of a gravity wave. Its arrival would coincide with the disappearance of the light. Instruments would detect it, but I doubt we could feel it. cn
mindphuk
Well-Known Member
Neither. We would still spin on our axis since that has nothing to do with our solar orbit. We would be hit with the gravitational information at the exact same moment that the light and heat disappeared. Gravity travels at the speed of light, not faster. We would continue on our trajectory becoming a rogue planet. No axis deviation necessary.
mindphuk
Well-Known Member
Nope. Not instantaneous.
Beefbisquit
Well-Known Member
Maybe I'm not understanding something correctly, we have an orbit relative to the sun, so if it were to 'disappear' our momentum would no longer be directed in an orbit, it would become linear... no? Well, maybe not completely linear because earth would still be affected by other large gravitational masses.
EDIT: Sorry man, I wasn't really thinking about what 'axis' meant. Our rotation wouldn't be affected, but we would still 'fly off into space'.
kermit2692
Well-Known Member
no im suggesting since the sun is far enough it will look like its still their for about 15 minutes after its gone...anyway..gravity doesnt act its a constant force and im no astro physicist but the effects of the sun disappearing would likely kill all life on earth before we even know what happened because as i explained we will still see light..maybe the light we see (sun) will appear to spin and we will have 5 minutes of day and night as we hurl to our doom lol
kermit2692
Well-Known Member
doesnt have to be instantaneous a person to not know whats happening before their done for
kermit2692
Well-Known Member
yes i think we would still see light for a short time after the problem already happened so the average person will not know by way of not seeing the sun before they were instantly frozen
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
With the sun gone, I'd say "in" and not "into", since then we'd be deep in the interstellar flatlands. Jupiter would be the remaining largish mass, but it would be too far and too fast (relative to us) to stay coupled. Imagine a sky in which the brightest object were Sirius. cn
mindphuk
Well-Known Member
I don't think you understand the question. He is asking if gravity information is at the speed of light or instantaneous.
We would see the sunlight until 8 minutes, 20 seconds after the sun disappeared. We wouldn't know sooner than that, and we wouldn't instantly freeze. If we would freeze in absence of the sun, the night side would never remain warm.
fb360
Active Member
Very cool question and thought, but the sun would never just "disappear". Even if the result was the sun "disappearing" into a supernova explosion, the gravity loss would be gradual, just as stars do not instantaneously consume themselves.
In fact, the mass of the sun is ALWAYS depleting as fusion takes place constantly between helium and hydrogen
edit:
To those saying gravity travels at the speed of light; PROVE IT...
You have no idea how fast gravity travels and your guess is no better than any other. There is very little information known about gravity, but as we currently view it, it is SOLELY dependent upon MASS and DISTANCE between those masses. Light is massless... Apples to oranges comparison and analogy.
"Most scientists assume that gravity travels at the speed of light, which is actually the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves (such as light) in a vacuum. The speed of light is a physical constant equal to exactly 299,792.458 kilometers per second (km/s), or about 186,471 miles per second.....Sir Isaac Newton thought that the speed of gravity was instantaneous, and Einstein assumed it traveled at the speed of light. Although scientists believe that Einstein was right, for nearly a century no one had been able to directly measure gravity's speed."
In fact, the mass of the sun is ALWAYS depleting as fusion takes place constantly between helium and hydrogen
edit:
To those saying gravity travels at the speed of light; PROVE IT...
You have no idea how fast gravity travels and your guess is no better than any other. There is very little information known about gravity, but as we currently view it, it is SOLELY dependent upon MASS and DISTANCE between those masses. Light is massless... Apples to oranges comparison and analogy.
"Most scientists assume that gravity travels at the speed of light, which is actually the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves (such as light) in a vacuum. The speed of light is a physical constant equal to exactly 299,792.458 kilometers per second (km/s), or about 186,471 miles per second.....Sir Isaac Newton thought that the speed of gravity was instantaneous, and Einstein assumed it traveled at the speed of light. Although scientists believe that Einstein was right, for nearly a century no one had been able to directly measure gravity's speed."
kermit2692
Well-Known Member
well this is not entirely true imo... ambient heat from the sun can warm a whole planet surface even if part isnt facing it whereas a planet with no sun at all will freeze i would guess nearly instantly on the surface..your take on absense and a true absense of the sun arent equal here
robbiek312
Member
we wouldn't instantly freeze. the atmosphere would hold enough heat in to last a few days I would imagine..
mindphuk
Well-Known Member
The night side is not heated by the sun, period. There is no warming of the whole planet at one time as you suggest. Ambient heat from the sun is what I was talking about. How do you think we hold that heat when the moon or mars can't? Our atmosphere will protect us for a little while after the sun vanishes. There is nothing instant about freezing when the earth holds onto the heat like it does.