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What would happen if the Earth stopped orbiting the Sun?

Each year the Earth takes 365 days to complete one successful lap around the Sun, but if the planet stopped orbiting, we'd only live for about a month.

What would happen if the Earth stopped orbiting the Sun?
Tech and Science Editor
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Everything in the solar system orbits the Sun, every planet, every asteroid, every comet. The Sun's gravity is the glue that holds the solar system together, but what if Earth suddenly stopped orbiting the Sun?

The short answer, we would all die either immediately or in about a month's time, it depends on how fast Earth stopped orbiting the Sun. If the Earth stopped orbiting the Sun immediately, everyone would be hurled off the surface of Earth into space, similar to the inertia felt when a driver slams on their brakes. However, if the Earth came to a slow stop, no one would die immediately, and most people wouldn't even realize what had happened, but death would be guaranteed.

As Earth is rotating the Sun, its orbit is pushing against the Sun's strong gravitational pull. Removing the orbiting factor means there is no tug-of-war between the Earth's orbit and the Sun's gravitational pull, meaning the Earth will eventually be pulled into the Sun. This process would take approximately two months. The first two weeks would show hardly any change at all, but as the Earth gets closer to the Sun, the stronger the gravitational pull, meaning the faster the Earth travels towards its doom.

By day 21, global temperatures would have jumped to 35 degrees Celsius. By day 35, global temperatures will reach 48 degrees Celsius. By day 65, the Sun's gravity crushes Earth leaking magma and killing all remaining life on the planet.

In other news, a UFO whistleblower has claimed the US government is hiding a crashed UFO.

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Tech and Science Editor

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Jak joined TweakTown in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms.

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