What would happen if the Sun suddenly went out?

I'd sleep in.

All of the tabloids would be speculating about who he was going out with.

Perhaps he had gone out for a Burn Out with his mates?

Hate to tell you, ben, but there is or was a theory out there that it had already gone out. Something about the absence of neutrinos, or some such thing in a deep mine shaft. They were supposed to be there if the sun were doing its job.

Yep. Solar Neutrino Units were too low. What's SNU?

You would have about nine minutes to get a really large pile of seasoned wood for your wood stove and break any habits involving the kissing of steel poles.

JM

Husker,

That is the coolest article. I started to read it and was a bit puzzled until I noticed the year it was written (1969).

As you might imagine we now know a whole lot more. We have built several of these neutrino detectors, we now acccept as fact the the sun is a nuclear reactions.

Ben,

To answer your question, it is highly improbable. We know (from experiments like the one Husker posted) quite a bit about how the Sun works.

There is a much greater chance that the Earth will lose its atmosphere (killing all life). If you want to worry about something, you might start here.

I wouldn't worry about the Sun. It has got a least a few billion years left.

The left would blame it on Bush.

Who (while he was on vacation) would insist that in spite of general scientific consensus (and the fact it suddenly got dark) it wasn't conclusive that the sun was actually "out".

Firstly, I agree that it would be Bush's fault.

Secondly, you may want to aim your research toward the age of stars. I read a very long time ago that stars go through various stages as they age. The sun is a relatively young star. Before the sun were to "go out," it would expand in mass and swallow up the first few planets in our solar system, including our home, Earth. I wish I had a source for this information; this is just bits and pieces from memory.

So, will humans be around long enough to see that day? I don't think so. By then we'll probably have either died off from overpopulation or the erradication of the ozone layer.

Smile!

And the Right would blame it on the Left.

Of course. Who else would let the sun go out and try to pass it off as a government entitlement?

i'd ask someone to turn it back on.