# For all of you astronomy lovers, what if?



## Aunt Marg

What if the Moon was replaced with some of other planets...


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## Warrigal

Interesting concept. I guess we would be one part of a binary planetary system where we would be dragged along the orbit of the larger planet, locked in a continuous dance around each other. Sunrise and sunsets would be less regular due to interference caused by the gravitational pull between the twinned planets. I don't even want to think about what would happen to the seasons and plant life.

I'm rather glad that Earth is the Goldilocks planet.


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## FastTrax

Aunt Marg said:


> What if the Moon was replaced with some of other planets...


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## Tish

That is really awesome.


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## FastTrax

I think Saturn is the most magnificent planet.


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## Aunt Marg

Warrigal said:


> Interesting concept. I guess we would be one part of a binary planetary system where we would be dragged along the orbit of the larger planet, locked in a continuous dance around each other. Sunrise and sunsets would be less regular due to interference caused by the gravitational pull between the twinned planets. I don't even want to think about what would happen to the seasons and plant life.
> 
> I'm rather glad that Earth is the Goldilocks planet.


Yes, my instant thought was, what would happen to our seasons, our days, our nights, what sorts of other related conditions would be apparent... would the atmosphere be more radioactive, would storms (thunder, lightning, rain, snow, wind, etc,) be more severe, what would our oxygen and carbon monoxide levels be like, and of course, what about our plants, trees, water, wildlife.

The scene of Saturn with it's rings is so incredibly beautiful. Such a shame we don't get to enjoy a half dozen planets or more as our moon throughout the year, wouldn't that be a treat.


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## Aunt Marg

Tish said:


> That is really awesome.


Isn't it!


FastTrax said:


> I think Saturn is the most magnificent planet.


My favourite, too!


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## ohioboy

If Saturn or Jupiter were in our Moon's place, the Gravitational pull would doom us. In what amount of time? That question is reserved for say, an Astrophysicist.


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## ohioboy

Aunt Marg said:


> The scene of Saturn with it's rings is so incredibly beautiful. Such a shame we don't get to enjoy a half dozen planets or more as our moon throughout the year, wouldn't that be a treat.


Saturn is not the only planet with rings, but it's are more massive and colorful.


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## Pappy

What if the moon switched with Uranus? I can think of some jokes that would get me barred from the forum. Oh look honey. Tonight’s a full ———————.


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## Meanderer

A Gravitational Nightmare?.....or Dream!


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## ohioboy

ohioboy said:


> If Saturn or Jupiter were in our Moon's place, the Gravitational pull would doom us. In what amount of time? That question is reserved for say, an Astrophysicist.


What if Saturn flew by Earth? Goodbye yellow brick road!
---For Earth​Now for the most important part, what would happen to Earth?

In one word: destruction!---

https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/u...destruction-flood-apocalypse-destruction.html


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## Meanderer




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## Aunt Marg

Meanderer said:


>


I remember a teacher telling us about a certain planet where if one could visit it and try and scoop up a table spoon of it's surface material, one wouldn't be able to lift the spoon,


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## ohioboy

Aunt Marg said:


> I remember a teacher telling us about a certain planet where if one could visit it and try and scoop up a table spoon of it's surface material, one wouldn't be able to lift the spoon,


Remember David Scott's experiment on the moon confirming Galileo's theory of gravitation? He dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time. They both hit at the same time.


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## Meanderer

_What if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth?_

"A tablespoon of the Sun, depending on where you scoop, would weigh about 5 pounds (2 kilograms) — the weight of an old laptop. A tablespoon of neutron star weighs more than 1 billion tons (900 billion kg) — the weight of Mount Everest. So while you could lift a spoonful of Sun, you can’t lift a spoonful of neutron star".
(Read More)


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## Aunt Marg

ohioboy said:


> Remember David Scott's experiment on the moon confirming Galileo's theory of gravitation? He dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time. They both hit at the same time.





Meanderer said:


> _What if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth?_
> 
> "A tablespoon of the Sun, depending on where you scoop, would weigh about 5 pounds (2 kilograms) — the weight of an old laptop. A tablespoon of neutron star weighs more than 1 billion tons (900 billion kg) — the weight of Mount Everest. So while you could lift a spoonful of Sun, you can’t lift a spoonful of neutron star".
> (Read More)


Wow! Totally awesome entries, Ohio and Meanderer!

Some serious food for thought.


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## Meanderer

_I guess you could call that"Great Ball of Fire" a "Lucky Ol' Sun"! _


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## horseless carriage

Aunt Marg said:


> What if the Moon was replaced with some of other planets...


What would it be made of?


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## Meanderer

Solar System Scale: Weigh Yourself On Planets Where Gravity Isn’t So Harsh


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## Mr. Ed




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## debodun

It might look nice, but not advisable. That would throw the whole Solar System out of kilter.


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## wewe55

i am very curious about astronomy and stuff, if u do too check this artcle out, it is nice to read https://www.space.com/spaceflight-destroys-red-blood-cells


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## debodun

It would throw the solar system totally out of kilter.


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## Meanderer

@wewe55  Welcome to Senior Forums!  Click on Introductions and tell us about yourself.  Thanks


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## spectratg

Meanderer said:


>


Mercury, Venus, and Mars--you would weigh less than on Earth.  If you had on a space suit to provide you with heat and oxygen, you could weigh yourself just fine.


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## spectratg

Warrigal said:


> Interesting concept. I guess we would be one part of a binary planetary system where we would be dragged along the orbit of the larger planet, locked in a continuous dance around each other. Sunrise and sunsets would be less regular due to interference caused by the gravitational pull between the twinned planets. I don't even want to think about what would happen to the seasons and plant life.
> 
> I'm rather glad that Earth is the Goldilocks planet.


Well it's a Goldilocks planet for us since this is where we evolved.  Another planetary situation in another solar system might evolve a much different type of life form who would consider their planet as a Goldilocks!


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## David777

Have been gradually reading a near 600 page large size color astronomy textbook for months with lots of Hubble photos and by coincidence upon seeing this revived thread, am about to start the "Black holes and Curved space time" chapter.

The OP's link is a good way to compare relative planet sizes.  Scifi movies often show views from alien planets looking out at such huge moons, however such worlds would be too gravitationally unstable to evolve organic life.  Of course, am still waiting to see a scifi movie where they don't include audio effects during a space battle explosion.


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## Mr. Ed

What if we were aliens and people were from other planets?


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