The Sun may be the pulsating heart of our solar system, bathing us in its energy for the past 4.5 billion years, but it will also be the source of our doom and that of the entire planet.
As the Sun burns incessantly, it goes through a continuous cycle of nuclear fusion, combining smaller hydrogen atoms to form larger helium atoms. The process releases a tremendous amount of energy that reaches our planet in the form of light and heat.
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According to the US space agency (NASA), the Sun’s heat made life on Earth possible and is a critical energy source for many organisms, such as plants.
But the Sun, which is about 4.6 billion years old, is already halfway through its life cycle.
As the Sun burns and depletes its fuel reserves, one day it will end and undergo a process that will likely wipe out all life on our planet, rendering it uninhabitable.
Astronomers predict that the Sun will one day become a so-called red giant or a dying star in the final stage of its stellar evolution.
At that point, the Sun will have exhausted its hydrogen, and the inward gravitational forces of the star will overcome the outward pressures acting on the star.
As a result, the Sun will begin to expand and cool like an inflated balloon.
NASA estimates that the red giant will be about 2,000 times brighter than the Sun is now.
But even more concerning, the expanding star will likely engulf the innermost planets, Mercury and Venus.
And although Earth may just stay out of reach of the red giant, its heat will be strong enough to scorch the planet.
According to Kelly Whitt from EarthSky.org: “Our planet’s water and atmosphere will boil away, leaving nothing behind but a charred, lifeless rock. Mars will take a while to heat up, but eventually, Mars will be out of the habitable zone for humans as well. At that point, the moons of outer planets – like Jupiter and Saturn – will be the only remaining places in our solar system for human colonies.”
But even that would only be a temporary solution, as the red giant’s gravitational control over the solar system would be much weaker than that of the sun. As a result, the star’s established orbits by the planets could be disrupted.
The good news, however, is that none of this should happen in our lifetimes. Since the Sun is only halfway through its cycle, it will not enter its death throes for another five billion years.
