Into the Sun

Carl G. (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
k.net:

The Sun has a collision cross section that is roughly 10000 times greater
than the Earth's. This means that an object entering the solar system
from
deep space is much more likely to collide with the Sun than the Earth.
This raises some interesting "doomsday" scenarios, that haven't been
explored much in movies and literature.

If a deep-space celestial object with the size and mass of the Earth's
moon
fell into the sun, what would happen? Assume that the object falls into
the
surface of the Sun at solar escape velocity (about 618 km/s). Estimate
the effect of the collision on Earth and the rest of the solar system
(communication loss, weather changes, global warming, mass extinction,
etc.). One place to begin is comparing the energy released to the sun's
normal output. Estimate how fast the impact energy would be released
(seconds, hours, days, ...).

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a large asteroid
(e.g., Ceres, with a mass of about 1.E+21 kg, and density of about 2.
g/cm^3)?

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a comet (mass of
about 1.E+15 kg, and density of about 0.5 g/cm^2)?

For smaller objects, compare the energy from the impact to that released
in
massive solar flares. About what size object would release as much energy
on impact as a massive solar flare (a flare that would disrupt global
communications, etc.)?

Carl G.

At a rough guess I would say that the Sun would simply absorb the intruder
and carry on as though nothing had happened.

I've cross-posted to sci.astro for more learned opinions.
--
Terms and conditions apply. Batteries not included. Subject to status.
Contains moderate language. Always read the label. Keep out of children.

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:01:54 +0000, Prai Jei
wrote:

Carl G. (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
nk.net:

The Sun has a collision cross section that is roughly 10000 times greater
than the Earth's. This means that an object entering the solar system
from
deep space is much more likely to collide with the Sun than the Earth.
This raises some interesting "doomsday" scenarios, that haven't been
explored much in movies and literature.

If a deep-space celestial object with the size and mass of the Earth's
moon
fell into the sun, what would happen? Assume that the object falls into
the
surface of the Sun at solar escape velocity (about 618 km/s). Estimate
the effect of the collision on Earth and the rest of the solar system
(communication loss, weather changes, global warming, mass extinction,
etc.). One place to begin is comparing the energy released to the sun's
normal output. Estimate how fast the impact energy would be released
(seconds, hours, days, ...).

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a large asteroid
(e.g., Ceres, with a mass of about 1.E+21 kg, and density of about 2.
g/cm^3)?

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a comet (mass of
about 1.E+15 kg, and density of about 0.5 g/cm^2)?

For smaller objects, compare the energy from the impact to that released
in
massive solar flares. About what size object would release as much energy
on impact as a massive solar flare (a flare that would disrupt global
communications, etc.)?

Carl G.

At a rough guess I would say that the Sun would simply absorb the intruder
and carry on as though nothing had happened.


Throwin in a moon sized object produces as much energy as 14 months of
solar output. This won't heat up the interior of the sun much, but I
think enough of it will be radiated in the first few minutes to finish
off the human race.

--
Wim Benthem

Carl G. (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
k.net:

The Sun has a collision cross section that is roughly 10000 times
greater than the Earth's. This means that an object entering the
solar system from deep space is much more likely to collide with
the Sun than the Earth. This raises some interesting "doomsday"
scenarios, that haven't been explored much in movies and
literature.

If a deep-space celestial object with the size and mass of the
Earth's moon fell into the sun, what would happen? Assume that
the object falls into the surface of the Sun at solar escape
velocity (about 618 km/s). Estimate the effect of the collision
on Earth and the rest of the solar system (...). One place to
begin is comparing the energy released to the sun's normal output.
Estimate how fast the impact energy would be released (seconds,
hours, days, ...).

If it truly is a deep-space object, then its orbit would have a random
inclination. This aspect has to be taken into account in any
assessment. Coronal mass ejections and the like can have such an
impact on the Earth because they are ejected into the ecliptic plane,
where the Earth orbits. An object hitting the Sun's northerly
latitudes is likely to have a much smaller effect than something
hitting in the Sun's equator. Similarly, an object hitting the side
of the Sun opposite the Earth will also have less of an impact.

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a large
asteroid (e.g., Ceres, with a mass of about 1.E+21 kg, and density
of about 2. g/cm^3)?

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a comet
(mass of about 1.E+15 kg, and density of about 0.5 g/cm^2)?

For smaller objects, compare the energy from the impact to that
released in massive solar flares. About what size object would
release as much energy on impact as a massive solar flare (...)?

Note that the SOHO spacecraft has seen many comets plunge into the Sun
during its time of monitoring the Sun.

--
Lt. Lazio, HTML police | e-mail:
No means no, stop rape. | http://patriot.net/%7Ejlazio/
sci.astro FAQ at http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html

Slip a few decimal places somewhere? The Sun won't even notice.

Saul Levy


On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 08:44:45 +0100, Wim Benthem
wrote:

On Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:01:54 +0000, Prai Jei
wrote:

Carl G. (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
ink.net:

The Sun has a collision cross section that is roughly 10000 times greater
than the Earth's. This means that an object entering the solar system
from
deep space is much more likely to collide with the Sun than the Earth.
This raises some interesting "doomsday" scenarios, that haven't been
explored much in movies and literature.

If a deep-space celestial object with the size and mass of the Earth's
moon
fell into the sun, what would happen? Assume that the object falls into
the
surface of the Sun at solar escape velocity (about 618 km/s). Estimate
the effect of the collision on Earth and the rest of the solar system
(communication loss, weather changes, global warming, mass extinction,
etc.). One place to begin is comparing the energy released to the sun's
normal output. Estimate how fast the impact energy would be released
(seconds, hours, days, ...).

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a large asteroid
(e.g., Ceres, with a mass of about 1.E+21 kg, and density of about 2.
g/cm^3)?

What would happen if the object had the size and mass of a comet (mass of
about 1.E+15 kg, and density of about 0.5 g/cm^2)?

For smaller objects, compare the energy from the impact to that released
in
massive solar flares. About what size object would release as much energy
on impact as a massive solar flare (a flare that would disrupt global
communications, etc.)?

Carl G.

At a rough guess I would say that the Sun would simply absorb the intruder
and carry on as though nothing had happened.


Throwin in a moon sized object produces as much energy as 14 months of
solar output. This won't heat up the interior of the sun much, but I
think enough of it will be radiated in the first few minutes to finish
off the human race.

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:34:09 -0700, Saul Levy wrote:

Slip a few decimal places somewhere? The Sun won't even notice.

Saul Levy


Let's see.

Mass of moon = m = 7.3477×10^22 kg
Escape velocity of sun = v = 6.18^10^5 m/s
Kinetic energy of moon falling in the sun = E = 1/2*m*v^2 =
1.4031*10^34 J

The Power of the sun is p = 3.827×10^26 W

Time in wich the sun normally radiates away the same amount of energy is
E/P = 3.666 * 10^7 seconds, or 1.018*10^4 hours or 424 days wich is
about 14 months.

This amount of energy is very small compared to the total heat energy
of the sun, but if even 1% gets radiated away in the first few minutes,
it's very bad for us. (if we're on the same side of the sun)

--
Wim Benthem

So why don't you calculate the probability of a non-direct hit then?
The chances of it not being very bad for us is rather high!

Saul Levy


On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 04:18:50 +0100, Wim Benthem
wrote:

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:34:09 -0700, Saul Levy wrote:

Slip a few decimal places somewhere? The Sun won't even notice.

Saul Levy


Let's see.

Mass of moon = m = 7.3477×10^22 kg
Escape velocity of sun = v = 6.18^10^5 m/s
Kinetic energy of moon falling in the sun = E = 1/2*m*v^2 =
1.4031*10^34 J

The Power of the sun is p = 3.827×10^26 W

Time in wich the sun normally radiates away the same amount of energy is
E/P = 3.666 * 10^7 seconds, or 1.018*10^4 hours or 424 days wich is
about 14 months.

This amount of energy is very small compared to the total heat energy
of the sun, but if even 1% gets radiated away in the first few minutes,
it's very bad for us. (if we're on the same side of the sun)