Ever wonder what would happen if the Earth ceased its orbit?

Ever wonder what would happen if the Earth ever ceased its orbit?

Well, spoiler alert: we’d all die, but the final demise of both the planet and all of the life it holds would take some time.

According to Wired’s Empirical Zeal blog, the whole process would endure for about 65 days.

The path to total annihilation would begin shortly after the Earth’s travel speed slowed down too much to keep it at a safe distance from the sun.

At that point it would start barreling towards the fiery orb, destined to ultimately come face to face with it.

The first week wouldn’t be terribly uncomfortable.

Temperatures would go up, but not significantly. The heat wave would set in on about day 21, but remain largely livable until about day 35.

Only a few really resilient specimens would be left by then, but on the 54th day even the heartiest among them wouldn’t be able to withstand the 300-degree plus Fahrenheit temperatures.

With its oceans boiling, Earth would pick up speed, and the pace of its approach towards the sun would quicken.

Finally, on day 64, it would be in close enough proximity for the sun’s pull to rip the planet into molten bits.

Rest assured, there’s no actual threat at this time of such a thing happening.