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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Lorric on May 14, 2014, 07:31:15 pm

Title: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Lorric on May 14, 2014, 07:31:15 pm: Hey everyone. This is just a curiosity of mine that I wonder if anyone knows the answer to and would care to share or speculate. I'm not talking about the sun going nova, I'm talking about if it was there one moment and just.... gone the next.

How long would we have to live before the planet cooled to the point where we died out?

And is there any possible way somehow, some way, somewhere humanity could scrape out an existence even without the sun?

I've had a few dreams over the years about this (and the sun going nova) and seeing this of all things brought the memories of those dreams flooding back:
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Phantom Hoover on May 14, 2014, 07:33:36 pm: http://reddit.com/r/askscience
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Phantom Hoover on May 14, 2014, 07:34:03 pm: (don't actually ask them, use the search function to find one of the previous ten million times this question has been asked)
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Ghostavo on May 14, 2014, 07:45:13 pm: Nightmare moon would have won.
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Lorric on May 14, 2014, 07:53:45 pm: Quote from: Phantom Hoover on May 14, 2014, 07:33:36 pm
http://reddit.com/r/askscience
Thank you very much. That's getting bookmarked.

Quote from: Phantom Hoover on May 14, 2014, 07:34:03 pm
(don't actually ask them, use the search function to find one of the previous ten million times this question has been asked)
Yes, I did so, and just watched this. Very interesting. We would have a lot more time than I thought we would. Lots of links in the description of the video too.

I'm very surprised how many people are interested in the same thing I was. :)
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: headdie on May 14, 2014, 08:21:41 pm: that is very interesting.... and gives me a few campaign ideas...... hmmmmm
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Scourge of Ages on May 14, 2014, 08:43:38 pm: Boom: xkcd answered this a while ago

http://what-if.xkcd.com/49/
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Veers on May 14, 2014, 09:26:23 pm: While I generally work nights, I imagine I would be a lot colder than usual.
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: Mito [PL] on May 15, 2014, 06:35:46 am: We would have to ignite Jupiter/Saturn/Neptune, all of them best.

Or we would have to dig into Earth and use geothermal energy to survive.

OR we would leave Earth and go to Eden Prime/Pandora/Capella/Vega/Twelve Colonies (Caprica ect.)/other.

I didn't watch those videos...
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on May 15, 2014, 07:00:24 am: You missed Alpha Centauri's Planet !
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: haloboy100 on May 15, 2014, 06:57:18 pm: Let's ask the Capellans. They seem to be doing just fine.
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: InsaneBaron on May 16, 2014, 11:27:41 am: Good question. Given that we can build craft capable of operating in a vacuum, I think that given enough advanced warning we could build shelters that would allow us to survive, at least for the time being. Most life other life on Earth would die out pretty quick.
Title: Re: What if the sun disappeared?
Post by: watsisname on May 23, 2014, 05:21:30 am: For given values of 'us' and 'time being'. Feeding billions of people with a collapsed food chain is… challenging.

As for other life on Earth, it'd die out rapidly, indeed. Pretty much the only long-term survivors would be sea floor vent communities and lithoautotrophs. The latter might even last longer than if the Sun had continued its regular evolution.