What would happen if earth was 2 AU away from the sun?

Answer 1

The idea of the sun moving around the earth is one that is hard to get a handle on. We can visualize it, but since gravity controls the motion of the planets and stars, how could the comparatively small earth cause the sun to move around it? It's not something that really makes sense. If the sun could somehow move round the earth, our days would be a little different. They'd be a bit longer or shorter, depending on the rotational direction the sun took round the earth compared to the earth's rotation. Oh, and there'd be no seasons. The "tilt" of the earth would "lock it in" as regards its relationship to the sun, and it would not change. Whatever season it was when the earth stopped rotating around the sun and the other happened would remain that way. ______________ Another thought: It is obvious that the sun is at the center of our solar system, and the many millions of objects in our system are indeed orbiting the sun. But in a sense, the sun does also move around the earth. the reality is that when an object orbits an object, they in fact are orbiting each other. The earth-moon system is a good example. It is not true that earth is motionless relative to the moon's orbit around it, with the moon alone engaged in orbital movement. Earth and moon each orbit around their common center of gravity (barycenter). Because of this, observers far above the earth-moon system would observe a distinct swirling or curly-cue motion by the earth as earth and moon step through their gravitational dance. Although it is more complex with the sun and the many objects in its grip, the same phenomenon holds. Particularly with regard to the more massive planets, there is a bit of a swirling motion by the sun (admittedly very tiny), and especially when all the massive planets happen to be grouped together.

Answer 2

Without the Sun's gravity to keep the Earth in orbit, the Earth (and all the other planets and asteroids) would continue moving straight ahead on a tangent to the original orbit. So the Earth and all the planets would spread out from each other, as each would continue in its own direction. No other mass, not even that of Jupiter, could keep them all together.

And without the heat and light from the Sun, the Earth's surface would soon freeze solid, and the atmosphere would freeze and fall to the ground as "air snow". We would all die, of course.
If there was no Sun, there would be nothing, there wouldn't even be anything! Nothing will exist. Sun is the main & ultimate source of energy for all living things. No sun, no living things. As, all living things will eventually die as no energy is for them. Plants need sunlight to make food. No sunlight, no plants making food, so they die. It also means, plants no longer exists. If there's no plants, no herbivores. As herbivores only eats plants. No herbivores, no carnivores, and no other living things, as that's the rule in the food chain. So, if there is no living things, well, no non-living things, as living things, us, human are the ones who made non-living things. So, no living things, no non-living things, what thing is left? Nothing! No planets, no universe, no nature, all is nothing. That's why, the Sun is the most important thing in our life. Without it, there'll be nothing.

There wouldn't be this question...!!
If we didn't have the sun there would be no sunlight, ending all life on earth as we know it as temperatures would decline rapidly, and animals would die.
The planets would go off in straight lines, with nothing to orbit any more. This would happen at once.

In about 8 minutes, all light and heat from the Sun would stop for us on Earth, the Sun being 8 light minutes away. The temperature would start to drop, as it does each night anyway, but without the radiation that comes through Earth even when one side faces away, it would get a bit colder, and a bit faster.

The side that was already having night would not then be warming up the next "day". There would be no more days, just one long eternal night.

The surface temperature of Earth would have dropped below that required to sustain unprotected animal, plant and human life within days. It is possible that with insulated buildings powered by our power plants that we could live off of stored food.

However, with all plants and animals dead (and even if we sheltered animals, it would take a massive hydroponics program to feed them), we would be in a very bad situation within a year.

It is barely possible, that with notice, some kind of underground colony, with geothermal power, hydroponics farm and a small enough population to live off of the fruit and vegetables, that humanity could survive. If we had a huge lead time of notice, a sufficiently large colony might be created so that a viable human colony could live inside Earth - off of Earth's own heat energy - for several billion years.

It taking about 20 billion years for Earth itself to lose all it's heat.

Answer 3

1. It would be very cold; probably too cold for life as we know it to have developed on Earth.

2. Earth's gravity and Mars' gravity would cause disturbances in the orbits of both planets, probably causing one planet or the other to either crash into Jupiter or the Sun, or be thrown out of the solar system completely.

Answer 4

Anything that could possibly cause this would have much more far-reaching consequences than anything that could conceivably happen as a result of the Earth's velocity.

First you tell us how this came about, and then we might be able to answer the question. However, assuming that the earth just 'sped up', you would find of course the days are shorter including the year. Weather changes would occur but this would eventually settle down as it gets used to what's happening. Because the earth is a sphere/oval shape and is spinning faster you would weigh less near the equator. That's about it folks.

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The question is about the orbit, not the rotation. If the rotation and orbital radius stay constant the days would be of the same length but there would be less days in a year, but keeping the radius constant seems to break a basic law of mechanics. More to the point of the hypothesis, then, is would a higher orbital speed have to be matched by a change in orbital radius, to obey the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum - I am not sure which way though, to or away from the Sun!

Answer 5

First thing we would notice is the longer years. Being further away means that we much travel further around Sun and it will take longer. This means that all the seasons would be extended, so we would have longer summers and longer winters

Most drastically would be that the solar energy we receive from the sun would drop by a power of 2 (so if we were twice as far from the sun, the solar energy would be 1/4 as much, if we were 3 times as far awar, solar energy would be 1/9 as much).

Solar energy is what powers the Earth. It is what drives our planets, which then drive the ecosystem of the planet to all our animals, so we would see a massive decrease in the food produced in the world leading to wide spread starvation.

The solar power also drives our climate and weather patterns, so our weather would be drastically changed, that would only further the damage to the environment and mass extinction.

Answer 6

A change of only 1 inch either way would not be noticeable. The Earth moves closer and farther from the Sun as part of its normal orbit around the Sun already, and the difference is measured in millions of miles, not inches.

The difference in distance from Earth's perihelion (closest point, around January 3rd) to its aphelion (farthest point, around July 4th) is about 5 million kilometers, or about 3% of the average distance.

Answer 7

Well before it hit the earth, if the sun came toward the earth, it would heat up the earth and everything on it. Then as it got closer and closer eventually it would just burn the Earth and everything on it.

Answer 8

Initially nothing.

T = 0: Sun miraculously disappears.

T = 3.2 minutes Mercury suddenly gets slung into outer space at 47.87 km/s as if thrown by a slingshot. It's direction depends on it's location at T=3.2

T = 6 minutes. Venus suffers the same fate as Mercury and is slung into outer space.

T = 8.33 minutes. Everything on Earth goes dark. Earth is slung into outer space at 29.78 km/s - direction unknown.

What the Moon does is unknown - will it continue to orbit the Earth or will it it do something else? The Sun only applies about 0.0006g to the Earth, so the Moon will probably continue to revolve around the Earth as if nothing has happned.

T=10. Certain panic in daylight zones.

Anything after t=10 is just speculation.

• Day 1, satellites will fail Panic, looting, killings - plenty of people revisiting churches, synagogues or whatever.

• Day 2, diesel and all fuels will freeze. Burst pipes - water, gas overhead power lines will fail - ice accumulation. Winds will drop or stop completely as there is now no difference in temperature. Oceans/seas will begin to freeze and the levels will drop as ice is accumulated around the polar regions.

• Day 3. All surface water would have frozen. Most people frozen dead in their homes.

• Day 4. Nobody can venture outside. All non nuclear power stations have now ceased working.

• Day 5. Nuclear power stations cease working as electrical systems mal function.

• Day 6. Seas frozen. Ice sheets everywhere.

• Day 7. Total nothingness.

At the end of the day it won't matter even if you have a heated

nuclear bunker as all you will be doing is just extending your

ultimate doom.

I suppose, if warning was given, it would be possible to build

underground cities, warmed by thermal or nuclear power, living off

cultivated plants and animals - a sort of Sci-Fi Noahs ark. Maybe

hoping that eventually the Earth will be drawn into another stars

gravity, but then can you guarantee it will be in the right orbit?

I prefer to let the Sun be.

Answer 9

Then Earth would become very, very cold, and there could be no more active life on Earth.

Answer 10

Then there would be no life as we know it on Earth. We depend entirely on the Sun's radiation for our existence.