Ever point a laser at the sun??

[snypr]

Technicality but if the Sun is going to react at all then it will react in just over 8 minutes, you just have to wait another 8 to find out how it reacted! :na:

M

Is that how long it takes its light to reach earth?

 

[RoDnSuE]

^^ Yep...8 minutes for light from "ole Sol" to reach the earth. So the sun could burn out and you would have 8min before you would know it.
So NEVER make plans that exceed 8 minutes in the future.
:evil::evil:

 

[Benm]

The 8 minutes is not just for light, its for gravity too.. if someone deleted the sun, it would take 8 minutes before earth left its orbit and took off for a ride into deep space.

Ah well, putting a visible spot on the moon is still beyond laser technology as it is, so we have plenty of time to worry about if and how the sun will be pissed off once we start shooting light back ;p

 

[RoDnSuE]

^^ That's interesting Benm. I'm sure the physics are beyond my comprehension, but how has this been figured out for gravity?
I do remember seeeing a show on the science channel where they determined the speed of orbiting bodies in the outer regions of our galaxy were somehow connected to the center of the galaxy. They called it "Sigma".
In other words, The speed of the orbiting bodies closer to the center of the galaxy were ploted and compared to the orbiting speed of bodies on the outer rim of the galaxy and there was a correlation. The ploted graph of speeds was linear from the inner to the outer regions. I do remember that they could not explain it yet, but said, "when we find something with this "tight" of a correlation, that there is some basic physics that is not yet undrstood."
Or do I have my wires crossed again?

 

[julien]

Remember, you have to wait 16minutes bevore the sun reacts

I thought it was 8... No; I'm quite sure it's 8....

wait....

Yes, the internet confirms that it takes 8.333 min for light to travel the 93,000,000 miles from the sun to the earth.:can:

[Update] Never mind. It takes 16 min for you to SEE the sun's reaction. *Face palm*

 

[dnar]

The 8 minutes is not just for light, its for gravity too.. if someone deleted the sun, it would take 8 minutes before earth left its orbit and took off for a ride into deep space.

And this is reason enough NOT to point your laser at Sol! Give him a break!