What would happen if we set off a 100 megaton hydrogen bomb on the moon?

Question

Could we see the blast?

Any effect to us here on earth, good or bad?

Answer 1

There is no oxygen there to support fire or explosion. I'm not sure if the bomb would go off in the first place. We would probably need a self-sufficient nuke or something.

Answer 2

First of all...this isn't a combustion reaction it doesn't need oxygen to sustain the release of energy (by the way the explosion in a nuclear reaction is actually the release of energy from an atom either splitting(fusion) or two atoms joining together to form a new atom(fission)...it would explode...more than likely we would see it and it would be very apparent. If you need anymore proof that the bomb would explode in a huge fireball look at the sun...it is a huge fission reaction in an environment completely void of oxygen! We wouldn't se a mushroom cloud like we do on earth though. More than likely all the biproducts of the reaction would be dispersed evenly and very quickly in directions away from the source. Remember that space of empty a vacuum there wouldn't be anything around it to keep a cloud of debris together. The explosion itself would probably cause a noticeable crater on the face of the moon...that you would have to observe with a telescope. The EM pulse from the blast would probably knock out the satelites in it's path. As far as the moon is concerned...it would be like setting off a black kat on a mountain. You have to remember that the moon is freaking HUGE. If we threw our entire nuclear arsenal at the moon...it wouldn't budge.

Answer 3

I have no doubt we would be able to see the blast. More importantly, however, is the ramifications this would have on the Earth. Depending on where the bomb were to be set off (surface, or varying degrees of depth inside the moon), a chunk of the moon would likely be blasted into space. Whether or not this was hurtled towards Earth (which would be very bad unless it was blasted into smaller chunks; a large chunk would have too high of a mass-to-surface area ratio to burn up in our atmosphere), the ramifications on the moon's orbit (from a huge force against it from the blast, as well as no longer being quite as round) would in fact be felt here. The tides would likely be changed, and thus, the spinning of Earth on its axis would also affected, if only temporarily. In short, yes, we most assuredly would notice.

Answer 4

Yeah, I think we'd be able to see the blast for a microsecond if it was on the side of the moon facing earth. We'd also be able to see the divot it created. The sun is a giant fission reactor, so the radiation effects would probably be similar, but on a much much smaller scale (Earth's atmosphere would stop most radiation from reaching the sruface). There's no atmosphere on the moon, though, so a fireball would have a shorter lifespan than it would on earth.

Answer 5

You could probably see it in a telescope, perhaps with the naked eye if it were against an unlit portion of the moon. No effect on the Earth (or the moon's orbit).

Answer 6

First of all there wouldn't be an explosion there would have been an implosion and it wouldn't be a large enough reaction to see from earth because the moon's lack of atmosphere would reduce the expansion of the explosion.

Answer 7

Definitely see it. Bright as the sun at least twenty miles wide.

EMP may cause small disruption to Earth's magnetosphere.

Small bits of rock may make it to ground, but nothing much bigger than a car.

Answer 8

Yeah, we could see it...if it was on the side that faces us. Would it affect us here on Earth? Nope. You would, however, get a pretty radioactive hole on the Moon and a circular fallout pattern.

Answer 9

it would explode. we could see the blast if it was done during our respective night-time. no effect on the earth.

Answer 10

The tides would change, the fall out would orbit the Earth blocking the sun, etc...why ...you got one ?