Disappearing Planets

Most Influential with respect to Gravitational Mechanics

Note: would I be correct in saying that the gravitational force is the active force when it comes to celestial bodies and their relationship to one another? The magnetic and nuclear forces probably don't ... right?

My guess is that the absence of Jupiter might have the most profound impact ... but I'm not entirely certain of that. It's awfully far out, and I'm not sure what kind of gravitational effect it really has on the inner planets. Would the absence of Jupiter affect the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter? I don't know.

Most Influential with respect to Human Imagination

I should have specified that the moon doesn't count. If I counted the moon, adn the moon were to simply disappear, it's absence would impact everyone's sense of the night. The "cold hearted orb, that rules the night" would no more.

Other planets? That's a tough one ... none of the planets appear as anything more than a steady dot of light in the sky, to the unaided eye. The presence or absence of Venus wouldn't be readily noticed by anyone not specifically looking for it. That would be even more true for the outer planets.

I'm wondering if the absence of Mars or Saturn might affect people's imaginations; Mars because it's the one thought most likely to harbour evidence of water and maybe life (not counting Saturn's moons) ... Saturn because of its rings.

But I'll cast my lot with Uranus ... only because that would rob adolescent boys with one of the few sources of pure potty-humor glee that can be had from a science class.