What would be observed on Earth if the Sun’s source of energy generation were to suddenly shut off?
What would be observed on Earth if the Sun’s source of energy generation were to suddenly shut off?
The Sun would become a red giant.
We would immediately freeze.
The Sun would get fainter.
The Sun would get brighter.
We wouldn’t detect any neutrinos at all.
Well, technically nothing would be observed because that would require observers.
Um, maybe a physicist could help out here. I’m not one but I played one on T.V. once.
The Sun produces its energy by the fusion of hydrogen into helium. The energy is liberated by photons and by neutrinos. The fusion only takes place in the core, where the pressure and temperature are the highest.
However, the Sun is not transparent and the photons take about a million years to come to the surface. This means that the Sun would continue to shine for another million years.
But neutrinos do interact very little with matter. We can detect the neutrinos created *now* after only eight minutes, when they’ve traveled to the Earth.
So the correct answer is: fusion stops => no neutrinos.
Yeah ronwizfr!
Concise, inclusive and correct. Thank you. Always a pleasure to see someone who knows what they’re talking about here, without an attitude:)