The answer depends on the world in question. The Sun wouldn’t notice a terrestrial planet, but a gas giant would have a noticeable effect.

| Published: November 9, 2026

Mercury appears close to the Sun as the solar system's smallest planet transits our star in November 2011. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

What would happen if a planet crashed into the Sun?

Lindsay White

Rio Rancho, New Mexico

This is a wonderful example of a thought experiment, the ultimate “what if?” question.

We should begin by pointing out that no fully formed planet will actually ever be able to crash into the Sun, as the Sun’s ferocious heat would begin to liquefy and vaporize the incoming world’s constituent matter as it approached, and tidal forces would tear it apart once it came too close.…