Hitting the Sun is HARD on HackerTube: recommended by 1 Hacker News commenter across 1 month, 2019–2023.
explainer · evergreen
A three-minute minutephysics video on the orbital mechanics of why crashing into the Sun takes far more energy than leaving the solar system.
HN links it as the quick explanation of why you cannot just throw things into the Sun.
“as explained in the following minutephysics video (3 minutes): Hitting the Sun is HARD.”
4 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
Another explanation[1] that shows how it's not just the cost of escaping Earth gravity (which is high enough already) but the delta-v required to de-orbit. It's easier to throw the garbage out of the solar system than it is to descend into the Sun. [1] ▶ this video
in “NASA Flew Gas Detectors Above California, Found ‘Super Emitters’” · View on HN
That's right, as explained in the following minutephysics video (3 minutes): Hitting the Sun is HARD. ▶ this video
in “Mysterious object is being dragged into the black hole at the Milky Way’s center” · View on HN
It's apparently pretty hard to hit the Sun: ▶ this video (Though that video mostly talks about small objects like rockets. Maybe it's a different story for dwarf planets?) That said... Keep in mind that this is about a dwarf planet orbiting the Sun. It's 11 AU out, so twice as far from the Sun as Jupiter is.
in “A dwarf planet coming within 11 AU of the sun over the next 10 years” · View on HN
... wait, to throw it into the sun. Okay, nice try there! Everyone on HN should know the Canadarm can't achieve the approx 29 km/s needed to cancel orbital velocity around the sun in the vicinity of Earth. ▶ this video 'doh, you got a reaction out of me anyhow!
in “NASA ‘Snoopy’ lunar module likely found 50 years after being jettisoned” · View on HN