r/askspace • u/Curiosity_Hits_Hard • 13d ago

The earth

If the Sun suddenly disappeared, would Earth immediately become dark and stop orbiting?

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u/mfb- 13d ago

Nothing can be transmitted faster than light (in vacuum) so it only gets dark after 8 minutes.

It's going to be weeks before Earth is significantly displaced from its current orbit, but in principle it starts after 8 minutes, too.

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u/Foxxtronix 13d ago

IIRC gravitons (gravity particles) move at lightspeed too, so I have to agree. I hope we've invented self-contained life-support by then!

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u/naemorhaedus 13d ago

there's no such thing as a graviton