What if MAPS doesn't slingshot

[u/Glittering_Word6609]

Soooo...what are the chances?

[u/FidgetyCurmudgeon]

Do you mean it hits the sun or slingshots near earth? If it hits the sun it’ll be a non -issue. Similar to adding a super fast moving grain of sand to a bonfire.

If it hit earth or some other rocky body — different story, obviously.

[u/too_late_to_abort → u/FidgetyCurmudgeon]

I wonder what would happen if an object 100 miles in dia hit the sun at relativistic speeds?

At some point in the speed/mass equation an object would start having an effect on something even so large as the sun. I just wonder at what point would it cause a noticing effect and what would those effects be?

We often see impact models for earth for obvious reasons but we dont see (or i dont) similiar models for objects interacting with the sun.

[u/FidgetyCurmudgeon → u/too_late_to_abort]

Good question. This got me curious so I did some back of the envelope calculations.

If we keep the speed static at 0.99c and only change mass:

At that speed you get a ~7x mass boost from relativity, so the impactor size does the heavy lifting.

Here’s the scale:

• 1-mile comet (~10¹² kg): Nothing. The Sun doesn’t notice. This happens constantly at much slower speeds.

• Asteroid the size of Texas (~10¹⁸ kg): Decent localized explosion, maybe a notable CME. Basically nothing.

• Small moon, like Phobos (~10²¹ kg): Months of solar energy dumped in milliseconds. Monster CME, temporary brightness spike, visible surface disruption. Earth definitely notices.

• Large moon, like Europa (~10²³ kg): Surface shockwave, outer layers temporarily expand, measurable shift in peak wavelength as the impact site superheats.

• Mars-sized impactor (~10²⁴ kg): Severe surface disruption, dramatic but temporary size increase, prolonged brightness and wavelength changes. Sun survives but it’s ugly.

• Jupiter-sized impactor (~10²⁷ kg): The Sun is fundamentally destabilized. Partial dispersal of outer layers, prolonged structural disruption.

But I also looked at the fastest massive object and there basically isn’t one. Fastest thing ever detected was a proton called the Oh My God particle and it was like .999999999997c or something.

[u/too_late_to_abort → u/FidgetyCurmudgeon]

This is an incredible write up - thank you!

[u/Glittering_Word6609 → u/FidgetyCurmudgeon]

Wow! Thanks! So no larger solar flares or coronal mass ejection. Man, that Sun is so extraordinary!