The Death Star's job is basically to roam the galaxy and destroy entire planets with its huge gun, creating fear in the Empire's subjects. But I wondered if you removed a planet from a system, what effects it would have on neighbouring planets when we consider factors such as gravity, etc.
2007-03-30 11:23:05 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Usually that would depends on a lot of factors, but i can give some examples.
i'm not an planets or stars guy but..
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our system.(of course)
Since Jupiter is so large, and orbits out farther than earth. Jupiter is know to have a lot of meteors hitting it. Also its gravitational pull can pull meteors towards it instead of towards any other planets. think of jupiter as a big brother deflecting rocks with a magnetic shield.
If we didn't have jupiter a lot more and bigger meteorites may have a better chance of hitting earth.
One theory about the asteroid belt is that, it could have been a plant that was crumbled to pieces as it was orbiting the earth. If the deathstar did a crappy job of blowing up a orbiting planet, it may result in a asteroid belt.
We all know that asteroid belt lies between mars and Jupiter, once we get space travel cabablility it may be really annoying going through that asteroid belt. Because there's so much rocks everywhere. The asteroid belt may act as a shield too. Deflecting space junk and meteorites away from the inner planets.
Well those are a couple of examples. But every planet is unique.
I guess if you blew up venus it won't matter. because it so small.
2007-03-30 11:34:46 · answer #1 · answered by SSB 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Considering the amount of mass in even a tiny planet, the concept is ridiculous, no matter how cleverly George Lucas stages it. But impossibility aside, you have to ask HOW the planet was "destroyed".
Normally, planets in stable orbits only affect each others' orbits slightly as they pass each other. If your planet was simply broken up, the mass, and the gravity, would still be there, slowly smearing around its orbit in a ring of asteroids. It's field would be larger and doughnut-shaped but weaker and more even. The other planets would feel a weaker but more even pull.
If it were somehow converted to energy, that would create a tremendous shockwave (likely destroying your planet killer) that could affect other planets with radiation and whatever got pushed in front of the energy, but the gravity field would collapse, so its influence would go away. The other planets' orbits would change only insofar as the perturbation of the passing former planet would not occur.
And if your planet killer was able to drop the planet into some kind of wormhole or other dimension, it would depend on what kind of effect the effect had on the surrounding space. Would the effect continue in place of the planet, and would it distort space like gravity does? Or would this be a true disappearance with nothing left?
You need to think a little harder about your impossible scenarios.
2007-03-30 19:43:02 · answer #2 · answered by skepsis 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
not much of a difference, unless that planet had a moon, then the something would happen to the moon. like, for example; if the death star came along and destroyed mars, it really wouldn't make a difference because the gravity of mars has no effect whatsoever on earth's revolutions, all the crap like that, see?
2007-03-31 17:59:41 · answer #3 · answered by Commander Cody 41 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as a gravity effect, i don't see it. I would be more concerned with not only planetary fragments falling into the atmosphere but with the Big Gun the Death Star uses.
2007-03-30 18:33:48 · answer #4 · answered by ron w 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Close by there would be an increase of meteor/asteroid activity. Far away basically nothing since the gravity would remain (the sum of the parts, etc.). Still doesn't explain the under bite helmets!
2007-03-30 18:28:05 · answer #5 · answered by Cirric 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Almost completely insignificant.
It was a rocky planet like Earth. Look at the orbit of even Venus and Mars that are near us. They go around the Sun to the far side sometimes, near side at other times. The earth's presence affects their orbit almost completely negligibly.
It would affect Jupiter as much as a pebble would affect you.
2007-03-30 20:12:55 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the mass of planet is huge then protection for other planets is going to be reduced from asteriods,comets,cosmic storm & storms from the suns.
If planet is close to another it could effect tide,meteor fall,e.m.p and may be orbital distance with its sun.
2007-04-03 07:01:30 · answer #7 · answered by ksr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when alderan was destroyed it created an asteroid field, but didn't really affect the gravity on other planets because thier rotation and orbits are detemined by stars.
2007-03-31 22:10:28 · answer #8 · answered by Han Solo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it were to happen in the solar system, the gravitational effects would be insignificant.
What would be significant would be the effects of debris created from this destruction.
2007-03-30 18:27:15 · answer #9 · answered by dunc1ca 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well asteroids that were held in place by the planet's gravity would likely change course.
2007-03-30 18:30:26 · answer #10 · answered by showmik p 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋