AaS! 202: Could the Earth Leave the Solar System?

Ask a Spaceman!

Paul M. Sutter

Astrophysics, Science, Cosmos, Holes, Black, Astronomy, Natural Sciences, Universe, Cosmology, Space, Physics

4.8 • 853 Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

Could we nudge the orbit of the Earth to avoid the death of the Sun? Could it get kicked out of the solar system altogether? What are rogue exoplanets? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

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Thanks to Cathy Rinella for editing.

Hosted by Paul M. Sutter.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Our sun is dying.
0:12.1	It's true.
0:13.5	As it ages, it steadily gets brighter and hotter.
0:18.8	In less than 500 million years, the sun will become so bright and so hot that our
0:26.4	oceans will evaporate, the continents will grind to a halt, carbon dioxide will build up in our
0:34.0	atmosphere, and the earth will become nothing but another Venus.
0:40.6	We are on the last chapter of the possibility of life on Earth.
0:46.5	Our only escape is to escape.
0:50.5	To move the Earth, as the Sun gets brighter, if we move the Earth into a more distant orbit, we can keep just the right temperature.
1:01.0	But in order to raise the orbit of the Earth, in order to bring it further away from the Sun, we need energy.
1:08.4	Where does that energy come from?
1:10.1	Well, when we look for sources of orbital energy in the
1:13.7	solar system, everybody starts looking at Jupiter. It has the biggest mass, the biggest momentum,
1:20.7	the biggest energy. The game here is to steal energy from Jupiter. I mean, come on,
1:27.4	it'll barely notice.
1:29.4	In the process, it will lower its orbit, and then we will give that energy to the Earth,
1:35.3	raising the orbit, pulling us away from the increasingly deadly sun.
1:42.0	How can this possibly work?
1:43.6	Well, let's take away orbits for a moment so we can think a
1:46.1	little more linearly, as in literally putting everything in a straight line. I want you to pretend
1:52.2	that we're standing on some railroad tracks, and the train is coming right at us. And it's far enough
1:59.7	away, so we have enough time to talk about it and plan what we're going to do.
	...

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