this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] cmgvd3lw@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 1 month ago (26 children)

Now I am curious, somebody explain. if it just stopped burning, would we know after 8 mins, if we lived on the opposite side?

[–] bluemellophone@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (10 children)

It takes 8 minutes for the light to travel from the sun to Earth. Because light in a vacuum travels faster than anything, including information, we would not and could not know it had disappeared for 8 minutes. This means Earth would continue to follow its orbit around a non-existent sun for 8 minutes because the Sun’s gravity would still be acting on the Earth.

If it was nighttime, you wouldn’t notice the sudden lack of sunlight (other than if it was a full moon) but you’d almost certainly notice the change in gravity.

Edit: actually, you wouldn’t feel any difference in gravity or experience any change of acceleration. What you would experience is a very tiny vibration, of 1 million push notifications being sent to your phone from the other side of the planet.

[–] cmgvd3lw@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Interesting, so you are saying light is faster than gravity?

[–] nublug@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 month ago

light speed = gravity speed

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