If neclear fusion in the sun's core suddenly stopped today, would the sky be dark daytime tomorrow? Why?

Answer 1

The time taken for any photon produced in the core of the sun to reach the surface and be emitted as radiant energy is counted in years (estimates range from 17000 to 50 million actually). Despite its huge energy output, the sun contains a lot more energy in the fact that it is already pretty hot; turn off to cooker, and the pot is still steaming.
So, if you stopped the core suddenly, all that we would notice is the lack of solar neutrino emissions (which are not that easily detected to start with) -- no fusion, no neutrino -- and a progressive cooling over several years, partly compensated by the progressive collapse of the outer layers no longer kept bloated by radiation pressure, and falling in, liberating gravitational energy in the form of pressure (and pressure equals heat), so progressive that it could actually take a few years before we notice any dimming.

Answer 2

Presumably, the sun would rapidly collapse to a white dwarf. While it would continue to radiate, its energy output would be much less, so the sky would probably be relatively dark - not to mention cold. For those who don't know, the sun is 8 light minutes away, so we'd know about the collapse in eight minutes.

I'm not sure how quickly the transition to white dwarf would take, but since main sequence stars are not known to abruptly shut off, it's a bit like speculating on how long it takes a pig to grow wings.

Answer 3

If the sun stopped cold the minute I post this message, we would receive light for about 8 more minutes and then it would be lights out. By this time tommorow the world would be sliding rapidly toward a frozen wasteland. After several days any residual heat within the atmosphere will have dissipated and the temps would plunge further. The only heat source available would be the Earth itself but that would be negligible due to the thickness of the crust.

Answer 4

It takes about 8 minutes for the light from the Sun th reach the earth. So you wouldn't know a thing had happened for 8 minutes. Then the Earth would begin to cool rapidly and over a few weeks every life process that depends on sunlight would cease and the cold would kill off everything that the darkness didn't.

Answer 5

The sun would immediately begin to collapse.
The sun may not be massive enough to collapse to a white dwarf but it would shrink to maybe the size of the earth.
It would slowly cool.
The process may be so slow that the end of the universe would occur long before it lost all it"s heat.

Answer 6

Sure! why not? Nuclear fusion is all we need for the sun to give out heat, light, Uv rays, gamma rays...ans other stuff...
I mean nuclear fusion produces energy! The sun can't go on without it, and neither can we without the sun! But don't think like that...I'm getting scared...lol, jk

Answer 7

If that happened, the sun would start to cool immediately.
You may well be frozen to death in your bed by the time the sun should have come up in the morning.
Without the heat from the sun, the earth would cool very rapidly.

Answer 8

Due to random collisions, it takes photons generated in the center of the sun six million years to reach the surface. So, if fusion stopped today, we would not know for six million years (some sources quote up to 15 million years).

Answer 9

It would be dark on earth 8 minutes after the sun went "out".
Why? Because of the speed of light.

Answer 10

I believe the photons (light) take thousands of years to reach the sun's surface. So I would guess it would gradually dim first before it expands to a red giant, which would incinerate earth.