If Jupiter were to orbit the sun at the same distance of the earth, what would happen to the orbits of the moons if its mass suddenly disappeared? Would they still be cometary (at the least) or would they settle into a planetary orbit?
The orbital velocity of Earth is the escape velocity of the solar system, from Earth (42.1 km/s). Fun fact, this means that if we ever wanted to dispose of nuclear waste by dumping it in a star, we'd need much less rocket fuel to hit Alpha Centauri than the Sun.
It'd be interesting to see what happens at Jupiter's orbit, thouh. Does Io always leave? What about Callisto? It seems like there would be a large part of their orbit that would send them off into cometary orbits (or worse) depending on what direction they are going when scotty beams jupiter aboard the enterprise.