If the sun went out, how long would we have to live?

[Alientank]

Say the sun just suddenly....stopped. I know that would never happen, rather it would explode maybe, but say it just stopped. How long would we have to live? It's relatively close so the remaining light wouldn't take long to get here, 30 seconds? 1 minute? I know once the light stops coming it's pitch black and we freeze instantly.

 

[Ikerous]

Itd take like 8 minutes to go dark
We wouldnt freeze instantly...

 

[gh0st]

if the sun just went out, wed have 8 minutes of sunlight, then no light, not even the moon. just starts and streelights. so it would be very cold, and probably snow everywhere. then all our veggies would die, and we would to. so, probably as long as our electricity lasted (hydro dams would freeze eventually), and as long as we had food.

 

[Ames]

A few hours..

 

[outpost]

Pfft this was discussed in a different thread! We would harness the power of cold fusion to power microwaves to cook our tv dinners. The sun is evil!

 

[qckbeam]

Pfft this was discussed in a different thread! We would harness the power of cold fusion to power microwaves to cook our tv dinners. The sun is evil!

That is right! Listen to this man, for he is wise.

 

[Revisedsoul]

i dont think we would ever have no light. cuz if the sun went. it would take us with it. so i dont think we really have to worry about it

 

[Ikerous]

Its called a hypathetical situation...
He knows that wouldnt happen
He was just asking if it did

 

[Alientank]

A few hours..

How so? If the sun goes out, temperatures drop instantly to the negatives, and humans can't take much below -75 celcius (0 celcius is freezing point) so I don't know if that's true about a few hours.

 

[Ikerous]

It wouldnt drop instantaniously...

 

[figge]

How so? If the sun goes out, temperatures drop instantly to the negatives, and humans can't take much below -75 celcius (0 celcius is freezing point) so I don't know if that's true about a few hours.

why whould it instantly got negative?
If you take a plate of hot food and put it in a freezer, do it freeze instantly?

 

[Ghost Freeman]

The darkness would own so much.

 

[Ames]

How so? If the sun goes out, temperatures drop instantly to the negatives, and humans can't take much below -75 celcius (0 celcius is freezing point) so I don't know if that's true about a few hours.

Nighttime.

 

[azz0r]

It wouldnt drop instantaniously...

Oh yes it would.

 

[Ikerous]

Oh yes it would.

At least back it up
With some logic...

 

[switch]

If the sun suddenly stopped producing light through fusion reactions, we would have only 1000 years and 8 minutes to live.

The light from the sun is produced at the centre and can only pass to the outer by transfering to heluim/hydrogen atoms (or similar, my physics is sketchy but you get the idea). So the light you currently see from the sun was produced 1000 years ago.

Some scientists think that the sun has actually stopped producting nuclear reactions.

 

[Pressure]

This also raises the question of how gravity works. Some believe that gravity travel at the speed of light and others think that it's just instantaneous. So if the sun were to blow up or something like that we would have 8 minutes before no light but if gravity travels at the speed of light then we'd also go 8 minutes without being thrown out of orbit into space. If it were instantaneous then we'd be thrown right away and we'd probably be moving away fast so it might take a while before the light disappears. Probably a couple minutes more.

 

[Helios]

How so? If the sun goes out, temperatures drop instantly to the negatives, and humans can't take much below -75 celcius (0 celcius is freezing point) so I don't know if that's true about a few hours.

The atmosphere would still hold in heat. Otherwise we would freeze at night too. So the temp would steadlly drop until it reached -300 something.

 

[Ikerous]

This also raises the question of how gravity works. Some believe that gravity travel at the speed of light and others think that it's just instantaneous. So if the sun were to blow up or something like that we would have 8 minutes before no light but if gravity travels at the speed of light then we'd also go 8 minutes without being thrown out of orbit into space. If it were instantaneous then we'd be thrown right away and we'd probably be moving away fast so it might take a while before the light disappears. Probably a couple minutes more.

We'd have 8 minutes...

 

[Alientank]

why whould it instantly got negative?
If you take a plate of hot food and put it in a freezer, do it freeze instantly?

This is a little different from a freezer. As for the nighttime comment, we are still getting heat from the sun even at night if it's freezing cold out.

 

[Ames]

This is a little different from a freezer. As for the nighttime comment, we are still getting heat from the sun even at night if it's freezing cold out.

Then on to the solar eclipses!

 

[spookymooky]

Of course, in our perspective it would be instantaneous, because we wouldnt know about it till the light gets here, so it doesnt really matter.

 

[AntiAnto]

If the sun suddenly stopped producing light through fusion reactions, we would have only 1000 years and 8 minutes to live.

The light from the sun is produced at the centre and can only pass to the outer by transfering to heluim/hydrogen atoms (or similar, my physics is sketchy but you get the idea). So the light you currently see from the sun was produced 1000 years ago.

Some scientists think that the sun has actually stopped producting nuclear reactions.

Hmm if the sun stopped, no photons and no energy would be emitted. Theorically, it would take 8 seconds. Even the energy created 1000 years ago would not be emitted.

We know that the sun is 149 597 870 km from Earth. As we all know, the speed of the light is 300 000 km per second. If we divide 149 597 870 by 300 000, we get 498.65. So the energy from the sun takes 498.65 seconds or 8.31 minutes to reach the Earth.

 

[Ghost Freeman]

Wait...so, we would freeze like that? Christ I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight

 

[switch]

Hmm if the sun stopped, no photons and no energy are emitted. Theorically, it would take 8 seconds. Even the energy created 1000 years ago would not be emitted.

It takes a long time for photons made to get to the outer surface tho, so it I had a off button for the sun it would still emit light for a long time..

HowStuffWorks gives a much larger timespan tho :S

Radiative Zone
The radiative zone extends 55 percent of the sun's radius from the core. In this zone, the energy from the core is carried outward by photons. As one photon is made, it travels about 1 micron (1 millionth of a meter) before being absorbed by a gas molecule. Upon absorption, the gas molecule is heated and re-emits another photon of the same wavelength. The re-emitted photon travels another micron before being absorbed by another gas molecule and the cycle repeats itself; each interaction between photon and gas molecule takes time. Approximately 1025 absorptions and re-emissions take place in this zone before a photon reaches the surface, so there is a significant time delay between a photon made in the core and one that reaches the surface.

Convective Zone
The convective zone, which is the final 30 percent of the sun's radius, is dominated by convection currents that carry the energy outward to the surface. These convection currents are rising movements of hot gas next to falling movements of cool gas, much like what you can see if you placed glitter in a simmering pot of water. The convection currents carry photons outward to the surface faster than the radiative transfer that occurs in the core and radiative zone. With so many interactions occurring between photons and gas molecules in the radiative and convection zones, it takes a photon approximately 100,000 to 200,000 years to reach the surface!

 

[jaguar_987]

ask ALICE! she'll know...

Human: if the sun goe out how long will we have to live?
ALICE: Hopefully not too much longer. You sound like a scientist.

maybe not... :|

 

[AntiAnto]

Wait...so, we would freeze like that? Christ I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight

No, not just like that. The atmosphere can keep the energy from the sun for a moment. So it would go gradually till the temperature reach -271 Celcius. And yes, we would freeze.

 

[seinfeldrules]

It would last long enough for my Sox to come back from 3-0 to beat the Yanks. Watch out NY, be ready for the but rush!

 

[Kitfox]

We'd all start digging deep tunnels close to the center of the earth where it is still warm, and there we would have rave parties... AND THE MACHINES WILL NEVER GET US... we'd call it Zion.

 

[Ghost Freeman]

Ok....psycho

 

[AntiAnto]

Ok....psycho

Who are you talking to?

 

[figge]

No, not just like that. The atmosphere can keep the energy from the sun for a moment. So it would go gradually till the temperature reach -271 Celcius. And yes, we would freeze.

We really don't know what -271 is absolute "zero" do we?
I mean this is the most cold we have messured right?

So it COULD be possible that it whould be even colder :burp:

 

[AntiAnto]

The absolute zero is -273 Celsius (or 0 Kelvin). -271 (2 Kelvin) is now the temperature of the universe. I don't know how scientist have made the conclusion that -273 Celsius is the absolute zero. Google probably know it.

 

[KidRock]

The absolute zero is -273 Celsius (or 0 Kelvin). -271 (2 Kelvin) is now the temperature of the universe. I don't know how scientist have made the conclusion that -273 Celsius is the absolute zero. Google probably know it.

how the hell would scientists know that the universe is -273 zero.. i am sure there are colder places in the universe.

 

[Dalamari]

How long would we have to live? Long enough to say "Hey the sun went ou-"

 

[figge]

how the hell would scientists know that the universe is -273 zero.. i am sure there are colder places in the universe.

thats what my thought was :dork:

 

[Prince of China]

If the sun went out and turned into a black hole, we'd be screwed.

 

[Ames]

It's basically when energy has been totally removed from an object.

An object with temperature has a certain amount of energy and when that energy reaches zero, so does the temperature.

 

[AntiAnto]

how the hell would scientists know that the universe is -273 zero.. i am sure there are colder places in the universe.

The temperature is not -273 Celsius, but -271. Oh and I remember... probably in particles accelerator, they made tests and they discovered that at -273 Celsius, all the matter freezes. That means that the chimic reactions (energy) between the atoms would disappear. There would be no molecules and so, no life. The universe CAN'T be at -273 Celsius. They estimated the temperature at -271 Celsius.

 

[Jakeic]

8 minutes