If a comet/asteroid hit our SUN?

[breising]

What would happen to our SUN if it were hit by a big comet or asteroid? Wouldn't we get some kind of lethal mass ejection that could have done in the dino's? What if the Earth was hit at the same time by some cosmic shotgun? I just remember Jupiter being slammed by the comet... I would think the SUN would display some interesting characteristics if it were in the line of fire also... just thinking...<br />

 

[j_rankin]

I don't know the physics, but i would assume that there would be a very brief amount of radiation emitted and then the Sun would return to normal. The mass of any comet is very miniscule compared to the Sun. It would probably be like getting hit by a pea.

 

[j_rankin]

Also, the comet or asteroid would be totally burned up before it reached the Sun's surface. <br /><br />I doubt that even if mercury decided to go slamming into the Sun it would wipe out life on earth. It might change our orbit and climate though, but not enough to kill life. But then again, it might modify the Sun's mass enough to keep our orbit the same despite the missing planet. *shrug* like i said, i dont know the physics.

 

[formulaterp]

Nothing would happen. Sungrazing comets are not entirely rare. SOHO has observed comets striking the Sun. There were no resulting lethal CME's.

 

[newtonian]

breising - You would need a large mass to have a noticeable effect.<br /><br />Scientific American not long ago published an article entitled "When Stars Collide." <br /><br />There were many possible outcomes.<br /><br />For example, if a brown dwarf collided with our sun, depending somewhat on speed and trajectory, the result would be to rejuvenate the sun (or any main sequence star).<br /><br />In the latter case, extra mixing would occur between core and outer layers as well as an increase in mass.<br /><br />With enough mass and mixing, billions of years of life as a main sequence star could result!<br /><br />A brown dwarf is much larger than a comet - in fact somewhat larger than Jupiter.