Hey there, welcome to Life Noggin.
A few days ago, Triangle Bob and I were doing some lab experiments and blowing things up...
for research, I promise.
but then it got Triangle Bob thinking of some bigger stuff.
like what would happen if a planet exploded.
I'm gonna answer that question Triangle Bob, but just know this is all hypothetical.
The Earth is made up of iron, nickel, magnesium, silicon, and smaller concentrations of other
elements.
These are all pretty stable, so we don’t have to worry about them randomly bursting
into flames.
Other planets aren’t so lucky though.
Take Jupiter for example.
This gas giant is composed mostly of hydrogen, which can be extremely flammable when combined
with oxygen and some kind of energy, like a flame.
This reaction does produce some water but it also creates a big explosion.
If some alien army or evil corporation found a way to introduce massive amounts of oxygen
in just the right way, a huge boom could rip the entire planet apart!
Obviously this has never happened, at least that we know of.
Another hypothetical scenario that could result in a planet exploding?
A really, really, really bad asteroid collision.
The infamous Chicxulub asteroid hit earth 66 million years ago wiped out the dinosaurs.
It came down on what is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and made a pretty big dent but thankfully,
the planet stayed in one piece.
This asteroid was about 9 kilometers in diameter and it hit the planet at about 64,000 kilometers
per hour.
Even with all that force, it only carved out a chunk of Earth a few kilometers deep.
Asteroids that are bigger, denser, or made of different materials could have the ability
to hit us with enough power to shatter our planet.
We don’t know exactly the specifics of how horrible this asteroid would have to be but,
to be honest, I don’t really want to find out.
If an asteroid collision could have the potential to obliterate our Earth, what would happen
if we had a run-in with another planet?
Surprisingly, in some cases, if they collided, they wouldn’t explode or shatter.
If one of the planets is young and in what’s referred to an embryonic stage, they could
actually do exactly the opposite and fuse together to form one giant planet!
Some scientists think this is what happened when Earth was struck by a very young planet
they call Theia about 4 and a half billion years ago.
According to new research from UC Davis, it’s believed that when two planets do collide,
it may form what’s called a synestia -- a donut-shaped cloud of vaporized rock.
They stay this way for a few hundred years, which is like a split second in the galactic timeline.
They shrink and cool under pressure, creating one planet.
You’d think that since our solar system is pretty well formed at this point, we’d
be safe from this kind of planetary collision, but that’s actually not the case.
In 2008, astronomers were observing a star system about the same age as our sun just
300 light-years from us.
They saw two planets collide with extreme force creating what scientists say would’ve
been a complete mass extinction if there was any kind of life on either planet.
Before this, it was thought that star systems that had been around as long as ours has were
safe from this kind of fate, but unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true.
When it comes to apocalyptic scenarios like exploding planets, it’s easy to feel a little down.
But remember that it’s very unlikely any of these events will happen in our lifetime,
so get out there and enjoy this beautiful planet we get to call home.
Are there any other catastrophic events you want us to look into?
Let us know in the comment section below.
Curious to know how we can build our own planet? Definitely check out this video!
We'd want it to be in a habitable zone
which means the planet should have an orbit the right distance from its star
to ensure optimal temperatures and most importantly, liquid water.
as always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking.