• Question: If An Asteroid or something like an Asteroid hit a Planet and hit it into the Sun what would happen, is it even possible?

    Asked by Micheál to Mark on 7 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Mark Kennedy

      Mark Kennedy answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      It’s (thankfully) pretty much impossible. The mass of the meteor would have to be really, REALLY big to knock the Earth out of its orbit and plunge us towards the Sun.

      Actually, it would end up being so big that it would vaporize the Earth (see my answer to this question: /oxygenn16-zone/2016/11/07/what-mass-would-a-meteorite-have-to-be-to-destroy-the-world/ ).

      However, if a star passed close enough to the Earth that we felt its gravitational effects, then this would become possible. There are 3 real outcomes for us:

      1) Nothing happens (phew!)

      2) Our orbit moves further away from the Sun. The Earth would cool, and we’d probably die 🙁

      3) Our orbit moves closer to the Sun. The Earth would heat up, and we’d probably die 🙁

      Thankfully, this is very, very, VERY unlikely to happen 🙂

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