Earth incinerated as it falls into the sun, or freezing solid as it’s hurled into space,
a brand new moon forming in Earth’s orbit… the things that could happen
to our home planet if Mars exploded are as terrifying as they are unexpected.
Perhaps the scariest part of Mars exploding would be the overall effect it would have
on our solar system. The sun definitely exerts the strongest gravitational force
on all of the planets, but the planets themselves also play a
role in maintaining the status quo in our solar system. If Mars suddenly exploded,
it could have drastic consequences on the orbits of the other seven planets.
There are so many factors that contribute to maintaining the balance in our solar system
that when scientists run simulations on what could happen if there was a slight change,
things start to go crazy. And the explosion of Mars would not just be a slight change.
For one thing, the orbits of the inner planets such as Mercury,
Venus, and Earth would no longer have the pull of Mars tugging them away from the sun.
It is not entirely clear what the immediate impacts of Mars exploding would be,
but over time the orbits of the inner planets might start to shift closer and closer to the
sun. This means that Earth would slowly move from its current path that allows us
to enjoy our temperate climate and livable conditions to something much more deadly.
If Earth drifted closer to the sun as a result of the disappearance of Mars’ gravity,
we would eventually begin to feel the temperature increase. At some point,
Earth would no longer be in the “goldilocks zone” where liquid water is possible but would get so
close to the sun that the average temperature of the planet would be at the boiling point of water.
When this happens all of the H2O on our planet would begin to bubble and be converted into steam.
Needless to say, when temperatures on the planet reach these levels humans and most
living things other than extremophiles are done for. Without Mars pulling on Earth our orbit may
eventually degrade so much that we fall into the sun and the planet is incinerated in an instant.
In another scenario where Mars explodes, scientists found that without the slight pull
the red planet provides to Earth’s orbit, our planet would be ejected from the solar system.
Earth would go spiraling into the frigid depths of space where everyone and everything would freeze.
The planet that we once called home would become a cold, icy, dead rock. This is highly
unlikely since the sun and Jupiter would still be exerting their gravitational pull on our planet,
but nevertheless, there is a slight possibility this would be Earth’s outcome.
It is difficult to tell which scenario would play out if Mars exploded, but many
believe that our solar system is in a delicate balance. And
if Mars was suddenly annihilated that perfect balance would be thrown off.
A more obvious result of our neighbor exploding would be the threat of debris impacting our
planet. In this scenario we can imagine that Mars was happily minding its own business, orbiting the
sun as the fourth planet in the solar system, when something terrible happened. The crust
and mantle of the planet would begin to crack, deep channels would cut all the way to the core,
and eventually, the whole thing would explode sending pieces of the planet flying through space.
As Mars’ closest neighbor, Earth’s gravity may capture some of the pieces of the exploded planet
and pull them directly towards us. Unfortunately, depending on how big the explosion was, and the
size of the resulting debris that was ejected from the blast, this could result in Earth’s doom.
At first, there might be a beautiful meteor shower as smaller chunks of Mars entered our atmosphere,
but once the larger pieces began pummeling our planet, it would be all-out chaos.
Chunks of Mars debris would strike the oceans causing massive tsunamis. Some would hit land
instantly obliterating everything in the area with the force of a thousand nuclear bombs.
If we were really unlucky, and an extremely large piece of Mars stayed intact and hit Earth,
it could literally tear apart our planet. We know that an event similar to this happened
in Earth’s past because it is how our moon was made. Early in the creation of the solar system,
a large planetoid-sized object slammed into Earth. The result was part of our planet
being ejected into space and eventually reforming into the moon we have today.
If Mars exploded and a huge chunk of it struck our planet it would annihilate all life on Earth,
but also might create another moon. Perhaps in the distant future aliens
visiting our planet would admire how beautiful the two moons orbiting the lifeless Earth are.
But the explosion of Mars would not just result in the red planet sending its debris towards Earth,
it could also disrupt the paths of asteroids in the asteroid belt as well.
This may send them hurtling towards our planet. The explosion from Mars would most likely push
asteroids away from Earth because of the way the pieces of the planet would be traveling,
but it could also cause asteroids to ricochet off one another like pool balls,
sending some careening into the inner solar system towards Earth.
Depending on the size of the asteroid, this might not be a big deal, or it could be a life-ending
event. But there is another more intriguing result of what could happen if Mars exploded.
If Mars was suddenly gone due to a large explosion it might make Earth a safer place.
Mars as a whole currently plays a role in putting Earth in danger due to asteroid impacts.
The asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter are kept in their orbit mostly by the pull of
Jupiter and the sun. However, every now and then as Mars swings by it can create a gravitational
resonance that perturbs the orbit of an asteroid. When this happens the orbit of the asteroid shifts
slightly which may cause it to run into other space rocks and send them tumbling towards Earth.
Mars may even act as a slingshot that launches asteroids towards our planet. If an asteroid
is accidentally knocked off its orbit by a comet flying through the asteroid belt,
or some other cosmic phenomena, Mars can actually aim the asteroid at
Earth. The flying space rock may be on a trajectory to completely miss our planet,
but if Mars’ gravity pulls at the asteroid in just the right way as it goes by, it is possible that
the red planet could change the path of the rock and cause it to fly right towards Earth.
With Mars gone, this scenario would not occur, making Earth a safer place.
It is incredibly unlikely that Mars would create a disturbance at just the right time
and place to send an asteroid from the belt into Earth’s path. Or that it would slingshot
a space rock directly at our planet. But as long as Mars is there, it is a possibility.
Besides asteroids and giant chunks of planets hitting Earth
two other threats come with the explosion of Mars. They are Phobos and Deimos.
These are the two moons of Mars. They aren’t spherical like Earth’s moon but look more
like giant space potatoes. This is because they are much smaller than our moon and are
most likely asteroids that were captured by Mars’ gravity and now orbit the red planet.
Whatever catastrophe caused Mars to explode would most likely also affect its moons. This could
send them flying off into space. They would not necessarily be aimed directly at Earth,
but we are Mars’ closest neighbor so our planet may be a target for the
rogue moons. The scary thing is that Phobos and Deimos are large asteroids
that could end life as we know it on Earth. Phobos has a surface area of
approximately 962 square miles while Deimos has a surface area of about 308 square miles.
If either one of these moons ran into our planet that would be it for the human species.
Depending on where the impact occurred debris would kick up miles into space,
the energy transfer would obliterate everything in the surrounding area,
and a planet-wide climate shift would occur. The sun would be blocked for decades from all of the
dust particles in the atmosphere. This would cause the entire planet to enter a cold, dark,
ice age. So, if Mars exploded, the biggest threat to Earth may be the red planet’s moons.
There are also less threatening results of Mars exploding. For one thing,
it could result in a brand new planet forming in our solar system.
Depending on how powerful the explosion of Mars was, the remains of the red planet may
be drawn back together by their own gravity. This would only occur if the debris wasn’t
ejected deep into space, but remained relatively close to the initial blast.
Eventually, the gravity of each of the leftover pieces of the planet would pull them all together.
Given enough time, a brand new planet may form. Since some of the mass of Mars would have been
lost, the orbit, shape, and structure of the new planet would be different. There probably
wouldn’t be enough remaining mass to cause a fully solid planet to form, but instead,
the result would be a large planet-sized ball of small rocks and gravel packed together.
We would likely be able to see this new planet in the night sky,
although it would probably be in a different location and follow a different path than the
red planet once did. So, even though the solar system would lose a planet if Mars exploded,
there is a chance it would gain a new one in the end.
Perhaps the biggest threat to come from the explosion of Mars wouldn’t
have to do with the planet itself, but what caused the catastrophe.
Whatever made Mars explode must have produced a massive amount of energy. We’re talking like Death
Star levels of energy. This may have been the result of a cosmic blast from a supernova or
gamma-ray burst. If one of these events caused Mars to explode it would only be
another 5 to 20 minutes before the destructive energy reached Earth and decimated our planet.
Or an even scarier thought would be that the explosion wasn’t caused by natural phenomena,
but by an extraterrestrial weapon of mass destruction. If aliens had the ability to
blow up Mars, they most certainly could do the same thing to Earth. Or if they
were technologically advanced enough to travel all the way to our solar system
and destroy the red planet, they could easily subdue humanity and make us all their pets.
A final scenario that may result from Mars exploding could be the most surprising of all.
If Mars exploded what would happen to Earth? Absolutely nothing. Space is a big place and
even the distance between Mars and Earth is so vast that it’s difficult to comprehend.
The average distance between the two planets is around 140 million miles.
And in the space between us, there is practically nothing.
This means that if Mars were to explode the debris would be unlikely to strike our planet.
We might miss Mars from our night sky, but the actual effects on Earth would be negligible.
It is impossible to know exactly where the debris of an exploded Mars would end up,
or the precise effect the loss of the red planet would have on Earth’s orbit,
but unless we are incredibly unlucky, Earth would probably be fine if Mars exploded.
Now watch “Earth vs Mars - How Do They Compare - Space / Planet Comparison.”
Or check out “What Would Happen If We Detonate a Nuke in Space?”