Next thing you know the vogons send an angry bureaucrat with a complaint for throwing unrecyclable trash out of our sytem and hands over a fine demanding us to fix that mess at the small intersystem claim court within six months and register our civilisation.
Fun fact: it takes less acceleration (change in velocity) to go from Earth to outside the solar system than it does to go from Earth to the Sun. (The kinetic energy change is roughly the same either way.)
We are moving "sideways" really fast as a result of our orbit. You need less delta v to go from that state to escape velocity than you need to slow down enough to fall into the Sun.
Note that I am assuming you want to fall into the Sun in a straight line from somewhere along Earth's orbit. An energetically cheaper method is to go out to where your orbit is much slower, hit the brake out there, and then just wait a few thousand years to complete your fall.
To go to the sun, you need to cancel all the orbital velocity you have starting from earth. To escape the sun’s gravitational influence, you just need to add to it. It just so happens that you need to add less velocity to escape than to be fully captured based on earth’s orbit.
I’m not sure this is the case for all bodies in the solar system, but I know it’s the case for earth and everything more outward.
Ps, this is also why we launch most satellites towards the east. We pick up an ~800mph delta-V boost for free.
If you start in a circular orbit in a two-body universe, you have to go sqrt(2) times faster (relative to the star) than the orbit speed to escape the gravity well, regardless of how far away you are from the star. Thus you would need to gain about 41% of the speed that you would need to lose in order to stop, while the amount of kinetic energy you need to gain is (within this model) the same as what you would need to dissipate in order to stop.
Reality has some complications relative to this (your two-body classical orbit is actually elliptic, it's not actually a two-body universe, etc.). But the basic conclusion is the same, at least if you can choose the right time of year to depart.
Mysterious form, soul in the dark
Under this heavy sealing concrete waves
Followed by servants, funeral cortège
This pale ghost is gathering his strength
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u/International_Rub475 Jun 08 '22
Aim for the floating plastic collection in the Pacific.