What happens when the Moon suddenly explodes

If the Moon suddenly collides with an orphaned planet, the sky will be white, the Earth suffers from meteor showers from explosion debris.

Orphaned planets are planets floating in the universe, not bound to any star system, according to Daniel Freeman, a Bachelor of Physics at UC Berkeley.

They can soar and collide, destroying the Moon. According to current calculations, the number of these planets is very large, according to the proportion of every star having 100,000 orphaned planets, according to Business Insider.

NASA orphan planet illustration.(Photo: NASA / JPL-Caltech).

When the Moon is destroyed, it will break into meteorites and large metals near the Earth. These large pieces can collide with each other to create smaller pieces, as described in the book of science fiction Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, published in 2015.

Along with scientists around the world, according to the famous astronomer Dubois Jerome Xavier Harris, a character in the book, the Moon's fragments will constantly collide and create smaller and smaller pieces and increases the ability to collide.

This is a scenario that physicists call the Kessler effect . This is also the reason that some scientists are concerned that the accumulation of space junk surrounding the Earth may become so serious that it is impossible to launch satellites or missiles into orbit, isolating the Earth. from the universe.

Dubois calculated that about two years after the Moon was destroyed, the sky would be covered by the Moon's material. They will form a thick layer of cloud around the Earth. Dubois calls this phenomenon "white sky".

Planetary physicist Erik Asphaug, who studies giant collisions between moons and planets, says that, depending on the condition when the Moon is destroyed, it is very likely that its fragments will form. a ring (like donut-shaped cake) around the Earth. Large pieces may be sucked into the Earth by the tide and pulled by the gravitational resonance of the material that makes up the ring.

Fragments from the Moon can cause explosions on Earth.(Photo: Shutterstock).

Freeman used computers to accurately simulate the scenario Stephenson had imagined. He said: "the white sky" will happen sooner than Stephenson predicts, but also notes that this "scenario is absolutely possible" .

After that, everything will fall to Earth, forming rains of rock.

"It will be a meteor bombing to Earth just like what happened at the time of the formation of the solar system," Dubois explained. The bombing will last for about 5,000 to 10,000 years, producing enough heat to evaporate the oceans. This scenario can completely come true.

Simulation of Moon debris colliding with the Earth.(Video: Daniel Freeman).

This is Freeman's simulation of this phenomenon, with Earth being the big blue dot and the Moon debris being smaller colorful dots. According to him, there is no need for the entire Moon to cause the rain to destroy the Earth.

"The 10,000-year period of this meteorite is completely possible , " Freeman said.

Asphaug also agreed with this idea, though not estimating the time period.

In Stephenson's novel, people must avoid disaster by migrating to space for thousands of years. This is a much-needed idea, including physicist Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, which specializes in space projects.

They argue that people need to have ways to get themselves out of this planet in case they can't live on it anymore. The US Aerospace Agency (NASA) and the Advanced Defense Project Research Agency (DARPA) have 100-year research programs, trying to find a way to build a spacecraft that can make accommodation. For a group of people for centuries in the interstellar journey, find new places to live.