# If the Earth just \*exploded!\* how long would it take for a shock wave to hit the moon?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-earth-just-exploded-how-long-would-it-take-for-a-shock-wave-to-hit-the-moon/719639>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 9, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-earth-just-exploded-how-long-would-it-take-for-a-shock-wave-to-hit-the-moon/719639 "2015-05-09T18:14:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-earth-just-exploded-how-long-would-it-take-for-a-shock-wave-to-hit-the-moon/719639/21 "2015-05-12T12:34:31Z")

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> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#):
>
> If the Earth “just exploded”, wouldn’t the Moon start flying off in a mostly straight line as Earth’s gravity faded away? .

The moon also orbits the sun and travels in a rounded ellipse (from the point of view of the sun). [Here’s an explanation.](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/09/29/the-moon-that-went-up-a-hill-but-came-down-a-planet/) Note that the diagrams exaggerate the size of the orbit (as the article makes clear)

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