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In case you didn’t, know, the sun is bigger than the earth.
Yes, form here, the sun looks like its no bigger than the moon.
But that’s because of how far away it is from the earth.
150 million kilometers to be exact.
So how big is the sun?
The sun’s radius is 695700 km.
The earth’s radius is 6371 kilometers.
That’s a huge size difference.
The sun is so big, that 1.3 million earths could fit inside it, and it makes up 99.86
percent of the total mass of our solar system.
So, in short, the sun is really big.
But lets imagine for a second, what would our solar system be like if the earth were
bigger than the sun?
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I’m charlotte dobre.
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Firstly, If the earth were bigger than the sun, everything about our solar system would
change.
Currently, the earth’s conditions are ideal for supporting life.
The conditions are supported by an equation, where the size of the earth, the distance
between the earth and the sun, as well as the size of our moon all add up to equal life.
Change something in the equation, especially something having to do with the sun, and its
likely that life on this planet would no longer be possible.
Primaily because, well, the earth would be so big, the gravity would be so great that
your bones would instantly break.
That being said, If the earth were bigger than the sun, depending on its density, it
would start fusion in its core, and would become a star itself.
Any planet more than 13 times the mass of Jupiter, which is roughly 4 thousand earth
masses, generates enough heat and pressure in its core to create fusion reactions.
The earth would then be classified as a star, not a planet.
Then, Our solar system would be a binary star system.
Binary systems are star systems that consist of two stars oribiting around their common
barycenter.
Binary star systems are not uncommon, in fact, statistics show that around 80 percent of
the stars In our galaxy are binary stars.
At the same time if the earth was larger than the sun, and also had more mass, the sun would
revolve around the earth.
That’s how gravity works.
The object with the most mass is the object with the greatest gravitational pull.
Another thing that would happen is the he entire shape of our solar system would change.
Its likely that many of the other planets wouldn’t exist because either the sun or
the earth would engulf them.
The outermost planets like Neptune could likely still exist.
So we know that it would be impossible for life to exist on earth if it were bigger than
the sun, but Does that mean that life would cease to exist in our solar system entirely?
Well, not necessarily.
Yes its true that the evolution of life needs a relatively stable system to develop in.
in binary systems, one or more stars is constantly moving farther and closer from its planets.
This changes the amount of light, heat and radiation they receive, which ultimately would
affect the possibility that life could evolve.
Planets can exist in multiple star systems.
In fact, a frozen rocky planet was recently discovered that was orbiting its two parent
binary stars in a stable earth like orbit.
That being said, the gravitational pull from more than one star can interfere with the
stability of a planet.
Not only that but having two suns raises the chance of a moon being able to support life.
In fact, moons have a better chance of being able to support life in a binary star system
than in single star systems.
According to the American astronomical society, binary stars dampen each others solar radiation
and stellar winds, which means they create a more hospitable environment for life and
increasing the habitable zone.
When you’ve got a really active bright young star, that bright young star spins really
fast, making them quite violent.
Lots of stellar winds and radiation would make it difficult for life to form near it.
But add another star, and create a binary system, and the other star actually dampens
the effects.
Two stars in the same system will actually synchronize their spins.
How cool would it be to live on a moon with a planet and two stars in the sky?
what a view that would be.
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