• Question: will the planets ever meet ?

    Asked by caitlink0406 to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Caitlin,
      The simple answer is “not unless something strange happens”. The planets are not on paths where they can meet. Over time they are slowing down, and this changes their paths, but they are slowing down very slowly.

      Things can happen to knock planets off course. There are planets between the stars, and if one of these came flying through our solar system, and passed very close (or even hit) one of the smaller planets, they could send it flying.

      The chances of this happening are almost impossibly small, and the chances of the planet that got moved hitting another planet even then are very small. Space is very big compared to how big the planets are.

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      HI Caitlin,

      As Drew said its unlikely! The orbits of the planets are ellipses, as discovered by a guy called Kepler – which was built on Isaac Newton’s observations about gravity. These ellipses shouldn’t really allow for any collisions – unless something weird happens! 🙂

    • Photo: Kimberley Bryon

      Kimberley Bryon answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Yet again another really brilliant question by you! As the others have said it is extremely unlikely, I really hope not.

    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Nope our solar system is stable…!

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Hi again caitlink0406!!

      It is not likely!! For precisely the reasons described by Drew, Amy, Julia and Kimberley. They provided a great answer! Sometimes people will talk about planets “lining up” particularly in astrology (which is definitely NOT the same as astronomy!). This is when all the planets look like they are in a straight line looking out from Earth. Some people try to interpret this as meaning something like a bad omen or something (this is astrology) but all it really is is the natural motion of the planets as studied by astronomy. Fortunately astronomy also tells us that these planetary motions are stable and we don’t ever have to worry about planetary collisions! Whew!

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