Imagine You're Floating Freely in the Vacuum Between Galaxies: This Is What Will Happen If You’re Going to Shoot a Gun in Space

Have you ever wonder about what could happen if you will fire a gun in space? Fires can't burn in the oxygen-free vacuum of space, but it is amazing to know that it is actually possible to shoot guns in the space. Modern ammo has its own oxidizer, a chemical that will activate the bang of gunpowder, and thus the firing of a bullet, wherever you are in the universe. There ain’t no need for atmospheric oxygen at all. This may be one thing you have not learned from your favorite gun store in Utah, at least, not yet. 

Here is another thing that may shock you even more. Did you know that the only difference between pulling the trigger on Earth and in space is the shape of the resulting smoke trail? In space, "it would be an expanding sphere of smoke from the tip of the barrel," said Peter Schultz an astronomer at Brown University who researches impact craters. Gun fire in space could happen, but the fun you may get may not be the same as the enjoyment you obtain from shooting at an indoor gun range with your cheap shooting targets. Now, that’s an assumption.

Imagine you are floating freely in the vacuum between galaxies with your gun and some bullets. Would you mind shooting the cosmos? Perhaps, you will only end up figuring out how you get there all your life. Once shot, the bullet will keep going, quite plainly, forever. "The bullet will never stop, because the universe is expanding faster than the bullet can catch up with any serious amount of mass" to slow it down, said Matija Cuk, an astronomer with joint appointments at Harvard University and the SETI Institute.

Also, according to Robert Flack, a physicist at University College London, the huge gravitational field of Jupiter is likely to suck in a bullet even if it is badly aimed. "Jupiter is so huge, it will capture the bullet and then it will follow a curved path down into the planet," Flack said.

However, considering all the math, Cuk proposes it might be easier to commit space suicide by standing on a mountain on the moon. "'Shooting yourself in the back' works in principle if you shoot a bullet at horizon from the top of a lunar mountain, at 1600 meters per second or so," he said.