What if Earth became a rogue planet?












4












$begingroup$


I'm writing a science fiction novel in which Earth essentially gets the boot out of our Solar System. No sun, no moon, just Earth flying through the depths of deep space. I need to nail down rogue Earth's climate before I can really dig into it.




  • What temperature would the surface be?

  • How quickly would it drop year to year?

  • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?

  • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?


Any tips/ideas you guys have would be a huge help!










share|improve this question









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    4












    $begingroup$


    I'm writing a science fiction novel in which Earth essentially gets the boot out of our Solar System. No sun, no moon, just Earth flying through the depths of deep space. I need to nail down rogue Earth's climate before I can really dig into it.




    • What temperature would the surface be?

    • How quickly would it drop year to year?

    • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?

    • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?


    Any tips/ideas you guys have would be a huge help!










    share|improve this question









    New contributor




    Nebraska Smash is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.







    $endgroup$















      4












      4








      4





      $begingroup$


      I'm writing a science fiction novel in which Earth essentially gets the boot out of our Solar System. No sun, no moon, just Earth flying through the depths of deep space. I need to nail down rogue Earth's climate before I can really dig into it.




      • What temperature would the surface be?

      • How quickly would it drop year to year?

      • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?

      • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?


      Any tips/ideas you guys have would be a huge help!










      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Nebraska Smash is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.







      $endgroup$




      I'm writing a science fiction novel in which Earth essentially gets the boot out of our Solar System. No sun, no moon, just Earth flying through the depths of deep space. I need to nail down rogue Earth's climate before I can really dig into it.




      • What temperature would the surface be?

      • How quickly would it drop year to year?

      • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?

      • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?


      Any tips/ideas you guys have would be a huge help!







      science-fiction rogue-planets






      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Nebraska Smash is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question









      New contributor




      Nebraska Smash is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 1 hour ago









      L.Dutch

      81.1k26194397




      81.1k26194397






      New contributor




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      asked 1 hour ago









      Nebraska SmashNebraska Smash

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      New contributor





      Nebraska Smash is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






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      Check out our Code of Conduct.






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          5












          $begingroup$



          • What temperature would the surface be?




          Cold, really really cold, imagine the coldest winter you can remember, it's going to be colder than that, a lot colder, honestly it's going to be really cold, so cold you can't imagine how cold it's going to be.



          Lets just say extra socks & a bobble hat aren't going to be much help.





          • How quickly would it drop year to year?




          Year by year? it wouldn't even take one year, assuming you start by moving away from the sun you'll be in a new ice age colder than any before it long before you get half way to the orbit of Mars.





          • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?




          Yes, it'll look like ice, what else would it look like.





          • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?




          They'll all freeze.





          Any other questions?





          The only place you've any real possibility of life persisting for a bit is going to be in close proximity to an active geothermal of some sort. Yellowstone for instance might provide a haven for a few humans for a bit longer than elsewhere on the planet.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$









          • 1




            $begingroup$
            Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
            $endgroup$
            – Sonvar
            38 mins ago










          • $begingroup$
            @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
            $endgroup$
            – Pelinore
            30 mins ago





















          2












          $begingroup$

          Earth pretty much looked like this not so very long ago:



          enter image description here



          Welcome to Snowball Earth, some 650 million or more years ago. And this happened within the Goldilocks Zone!



          Rogue Earth probably won't end up looking like a cue ball, simply because absent the Sun's influence, there won't be much weather. Whatever's in the atmosphere will rain or snow until Earth is far enough away that incoming solar energy no longer affects ocean currents and winds. Eventually, the surface will just be nut (and bolt!) freezing temperatures and rapidly diminishing amounts of incoming heat and light. Bad news for us.



          Liquid water would likely persist in the oceans, meaning those buggers that live deep down won't even notice that us surface dwellers have turned into ice cubes.



          How quickly depends on several factors:




          • Where Earth is, at the time of ejection, with respect to the direction of the Sun's travel around the Galaxy;

          • Which direction Earth gets ejected (this is very important, because if Earth is ejected in the wrong direction, it will just plummet into the Sun and your whole project will be moot)

          • How fast Earth is travelling


          Rogue planets can zip right along, and if Earth is positioned "behind" the Sun's direction of travel and gets ejected back the way it came and at speed, we could be waving bye-bye to the Sun pretty quickly! If we end up heading in the Sun's direction, perhaps we won't notice much difference?






          share|improve this answer









          $endgroup$













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            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes








            2 Answers
            2






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            5












            $begingroup$



            • What temperature would the surface be?




            Cold, really really cold, imagine the coldest winter you can remember, it's going to be colder than that, a lot colder, honestly it's going to be really cold, so cold you can't imagine how cold it's going to be.



            Lets just say extra socks & a bobble hat aren't going to be much help.





            • How quickly would it drop year to year?




            Year by year? it wouldn't even take one year, assuming you start by moving away from the sun you'll be in a new ice age colder than any before it long before you get half way to the orbit of Mars.





            • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?




            Yes, it'll look like ice, what else would it look like.





            • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?




            They'll all freeze.





            Any other questions?





            The only place you've any real possibility of life persisting for a bit is going to be in close proximity to an active geothermal of some sort. Yellowstone for instance might provide a haven for a few humans for a bit longer than elsewhere on the planet.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$









            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
              $endgroup$
              – Sonvar
              38 mins ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
              $endgroup$
              – Pelinore
              30 mins ago


















            5












            $begingroup$



            • What temperature would the surface be?




            Cold, really really cold, imagine the coldest winter you can remember, it's going to be colder than that, a lot colder, honestly it's going to be really cold, so cold you can't imagine how cold it's going to be.



            Lets just say extra socks & a bobble hat aren't going to be much help.





            • How quickly would it drop year to year?




            Year by year? it wouldn't even take one year, assuming you start by moving away from the sun you'll be in a new ice age colder than any before it long before you get half way to the orbit of Mars.





            • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?




            Yes, it'll look like ice, what else would it look like.





            • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?




            They'll all freeze.





            Any other questions?





            The only place you've any real possibility of life persisting for a bit is going to be in close proximity to an active geothermal of some sort. Yellowstone for instance might provide a haven for a few humans for a bit longer than elsewhere on the planet.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$









            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
              $endgroup$
              – Sonvar
              38 mins ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
              $endgroup$
              – Pelinore
              30 mins ago
















            5












            5








            5





            $begingroup$



            • What temperature would the surface be?




            Cold, really really cold, imagine the coldest winter you can remember, it's going to be colder than that, a lot colder, honestly it's going to be really cold, so cold you can't imagine how cold it's going to be.



            Lets just say extra socks & a bobble hat aren't going to be much help.





            • How quickly would it drop year to year?




            Year by year? it wouldn't even take one year, assuming you start by moving away from the sun you'll be in a new ice age colder than any before it long before you get half way to the orbit of Mars.





            • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?




            Yes, it'll look like ice, what else would it look like.





            • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?




            They'll all freeze.





            Any other questions?





            The only place you've any real possibility of life persisting for a bit is going to be in close proximity to an active geothermal of some sort. Yellowstone for instance might provide a haven for a few humans for a bit longer than elsewhere on the planet.






            share|improve this answer











            $endgroup$





            • What temperature would the surface be?




            Cold, really really cold, imagine the coldest winter you can remember, it's going to be colder than that, a lot colder, honestly it's going to be really cold, so cold you can't imagine how cold it's going to be.



            Lets just say extra socks & a bobble hat aren't going to be much help.





            • How quickly would it drop year to year?




            Year by year? it wouldn't even take one year, assuming you start by moving away from the sun you'll be in a new ice age colder than any before it long before you get half way to the orbit of Mars.





            • Would the atmosphere freeze, and if so, what would it look like?




            Yes, it'll look like ice, what else would it look like.





            • What would happen to cities, trees, the ocean, etc?




            They'll all freeze.





            Any other questions?





            The only place you've any real possibility of life persisting for a bit is going to be in close proximity to an active geothermal of some sort. Yellowstone for instance might provide a haven for a few humans for a bit longer than elsewhere on the planet.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 58 mins ago

























            answered 1 hour ago









            PelinorePelinore

            1,362314




            1,362314








            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
              $endgroup$
              – Sonvar
              38 mins ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
              $endgroup$
              – Pelinore
              30 mins ago
















            • 1




              $begingroup$
              Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
              $endgroup$
              – Sonvar
              38 mins ago










            • $begingroup$
              @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
              $endgroup$
              – Pelinore
              30 mins ago










            1




            1




            $begingroup$
            Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
            $endgroup$
            – Sonvar
            38 mins ago




            $begingroup$
            Unfortunately, once the earth is beyond the orbit of Mars, certain gases will start to condense and fall out of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure would drop causing all surface life to die. Best bet, once the oceans freeze over is geothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. the ice sheets should prevent the loss of at least some of the ocean to space.
            $endgroup$
            – Sonvar
            38 mins ago












            $begingroup$
            @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
            $endgroup$
            – Pelinore
            30 mins ago






            $begingroup$
            @Sonvar : Yup, the Yellowstone locals would have to have got some sort of domes built before then if they wanted to survive past that point, a thriving industry of oxygen mining would spring up (driving out in trucks & returning with trucks piled with frozen oxygen-snow for the thermals to melt so they've something to breath), they'll basically need spacesuits as well of course by then.
            $endgroup$
            – Pelinore
            30 mins ago













            2












            $begingroup$

            Earth pretty much looked like this not so very long ago:



            enter image description here



            Welcome to Snowball Earth, some 650 million or more years ago. And this happened within the Goldilocks Zone!



            Rogue Earth probably won't end up looking like a cue ball, simply because absent the Sun's influence, there won't be much weather. Whatever's in the atmosphere will rain or snow until Earth is far enough away that incoming solar energy no longer affects ocean currents and winds. Eventually, the surface will just be nut (and bolt!) freezing temperatures and rapidly diminishing amounts of incoming heat and light. Bad news for us.



            Liquid water would likely persist in the oceans, meaning those buggers that live deep down won't even notice that us surface dwellers have turned into ice cubes.



            How quickly depends on several factors:




            • Where Earth is, at the time of ejection, with respect to the direction of the Sun's travel around the Galaxy;

            • Which direction Earth gets ejected (this is very important, because if Earth is ejected in the wrong direction, it will just plummet into the Sun and your whole project will be moot)

            • How fast Earth is travelling


            Rogue planets can zip right along, and if Earth is positioned "behind" the Sun's direction of travel and gets ejected back the way it came and at speed, we could be waving bye-bye to the Sun pretty quickly! If we end up heading in the Sun's direction, perhaps we won't notice much difference?






            share|improve this answer









            $endgroup$


















              2












              $begingroup$

              Earth pretty much looked like this not so very long ago:



              enter image description here



              Welcome to Snowball Earth, some 650 million or more years ago. And this happened within the Goldilocks Zone!



              Rogue Earth probably won't end up looking like a cue ball, simply because absent the Sun's influence, there won't be much weather. Whatever's in the atmosphere will rain or snow until Earth is far enough away that incoming solar energy no longer affects ocean currents and winds. Eventually, the surface will just be nut (and bolt!) freezing temperatures and rapidly diminishing amounts of incoming heat and light. Bad news for us.



              Liquid water would likely persist in the oceans, meaning those buggers that live deep down won't even notice that us surface dwellers have turned into ice cubes.



              How quickly depends on several factors:




              • Where Earth is, at the time of ejection, with respect to the direction of the Sun's travel around the Galaxy;

              • Which direction Earth gets ejected (this is very important, because if Earth is ejected in the wrong direction, it will just plummet into the Sun and your whole project will be moot)

              • How fast Earth is travelling


              Rogue planets can zip right along, and if Earth is positioned "behind" the Sun's direction of travel and gets ejected back the way it came and at speed, we could be waving bye-bye to the Sun pretty quickly! If we end up heading in the Sun's direction, perhaps we won't notice much difference?






              share|improve this answer









              $endgroup$
















                2












                2








                2





                $begingroup$

                Earth pretty much looked like this not so very long ago:



                enter image description here



                Welcome to Snowball Earth, some 650 million or more years ago. And this happened within the Goldilocks Zone!



                Rogue Earth probably won't end up looking like a cue ball, simply because absent the Sun's influence, there won't be much weather. Whatever's in the atmosphere will rain or snow until Earth is far enough away that incoming solar energy no longer affects ocean currents and winds. Eventually, the surface will just be nut (and bolt!) freezing temperatures and rapidly diminishing amounts of incoming heat and light. Bad news for us.



                Liquid water would likely persist in the oceans, meaning those buggers that live deep down won't even notice that us surface dwellers have turned into ice cubes.



                How quickly depends on several factors:




                • Where Earth is, at the time of ejection, with respect to the direction of the Sun's travel around the Galaxy;

                • Which direction Earth gets ejected (this is very important, because if Earth is ejected in the wrong direction, it will just plummet into the Sun and your whole project will be moot)

                • How fast Earth is travelling


                Rogue planets can zip right along, and if Earth is positioned "behind" the Sun's direction of travel and gets ejected back the way it came and at speed, we could be waving bye-bye to the Sun pretty quickly! If we end up heading in the Sun's direction, perhaps we won't notice much difference?






                share|improve this answer









                $endgroup$



                Earth pretty much looked like this not so very long ago:



                enter image description here



                Welcome to Snowball Earth, some 650 million or more years ago. And this happened within the Goldilocks Zone!



                Rogue Earth probably won't end up looking like a cue ball, simply because absent the Sun's influence, there won't be much weather. Whatever's in the atmosphere will rain or snow until Earth is far enough away that incoming solar energy no longer affects ocean currents and winds. Eventually, the surface will just be nut (and bolt!) freezing temperatures and rapidly diminishing amounts of incoming heat and light. Bad news for us.



                Liquid water would likely persist in the oceans, meaning those buggers that live deep down won't even notice that us surface dwellers have turned into ice cubes.



                How quickly depends on several factors:




                • Where Earth is, at the time of ejection, with respect to the direction of the Sun's travel around the Galaxy;

                • Which direction Earth gets ejected (this is very important, because if Earth is ejected in the wrong direction, it will just plummet into the Sun and your whole project will be moot)

                • How fast Earth is travelling


                Rogue planets can zip right along, and if Earth is positioned "behind" the Sun's direction of travel and gets ejected back the way it came and at speed, we could be waving bye-bye to the Sun pretty quickly! If we end up heading in the Sun's direction, perhaps we won't notice much difference?







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 45 mins ago









                elemtilaselemtilas

                13.3k22759




                13.3k22759






















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