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This may be disappointing, but it would be the same for all of the planets, even Jupiter. Ignoring the effects on orbital dynamics from the planets changing pos

This may be disappointing, but it would be the same for all of the planets, even Jupiter. Ignoring the effects on orbital dynamics from the planets changing positions or falling past other planets, they’d just burn up. Jupiter probsbly explode, or be drawn into a rig around the sun that would eventually fall in, and burn up. All in all, the Sun is just huge and wouldn’t be disturbed by any of it. Its gravity would tear things apart before an impact, just like the moon would be shredded if it came too close to Earth. Any sattelite has what’s called a Roche Limit, and if passes that it breaks apart from tidal stresses. That’s how you get rings around planets, and I guess a star too. Although in most cases you wouldn’t have a ring around a star, just burning fragments falling Sunward.

MR4D 9y ago
Dumb question, but would the asteroid belt count as a ring around the sun? Never thought about it before until I read your comment, so I thought someone more knowledgeable than me could provide some insight here.
- dbasedweeb 9y ago
  Everything in the Solar system is gravitationally bound by the Sun, which is what makes it part of the system in the first place. In that sense, yes, and really the whole Solar system is too. There’s some nuance lost in that formulation though, because unlike a moon that came too close to its planet, broke apart and became a ring, the asteroid belt is much more distant and diffuse. It’s also true that Jupiter sort of “shepherds” the asteroid belt, so unlike something like planetary rings, it’s a much more complex system. I hope that goes some way to answering your question, which wasn’t dumb at all.
  - dormento 8y ago
    Just wanted to chime in and say thank you. HN needs more comments like this.
nonbel 9y ago
I'd think the main effect would be that the orbits of the remaining planets become unstable, haven't checked that though.

MR4D 9y ago

Dumb question, but would the asteroid belt count as a ring around the sun? Never thought about it before until I read your comment, so I thought someone more knowledgeable than me could provide some insight here.

dbasedweeb 9y ago
Everything in the Solar system is gravitationally bound by the Sun, which is what makes it part of the system in the first place. In that sense, yes, and really the whole Solar system is too. There’s some nuance lost in that formulation though, because unlike a moon that came too close to its planet, broke apart and became a ring, the asteroid belt is much more distant and diffuse. It’s also true that Jupiter sort of “shepherds” the asteroid belt, so unlike something like planetary rings, it’s a much more complex system. I hope that goes some way to answering your question, which wasn’t dumb at all.
- dormento 8y ago
  Just wanted to chime in and say thank you. HN needs more comments like this.

nonbel 9y ago

I'd think the main effect would be that the orbits of the remaining planets become unstable, haven't checked that though.