When Will the Sun Die? Will Living Things Survive Without the Solar Heat?

The Sun greatly influences the globe since it controls the weather, ocean currents, seasons, and climate and allows plant life through photosynthesis. Scientists have long been interested in the history and end of this giant star. But when will the Sun die?

According to National Geographic, the Sun started to form from a molecular cloud-primarily made up of hydrogen and helium some 4.5 billion years ago. The molecular cloud ignited when a nearby supernova's shockwave collided with it. About 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) separate Earth and the Sun.

clear glass ball on brown grass during sunset

(Photo: Raimond Klavins on Unsplash)

The Sun is expected to become a red giant in around 5 billion years, according to ScienceAlert. The star's outer layers will eventually envelop our planet as the star's core contracts and moves toward Mars' orbit. If it's still there, that is.

Sun Will Die 8 Billion Years From Now, But Earth Will Probably Die First

Universe Magazine, citing the European Space Agency, said the Sun would achieve its peak temperature in roughly 8 billion years. After that, it will rapidly cool and grow larger, eventually transforming into a red giant star in 10-11 billion years. The Sun will, after that, set and transform into a frail white dwarf.

The Sun will brighten and warm up by 10% in around a billion years. Although 10% may not seem like much, after 2-3 billion years, they will heat the Earth to the point that it is no longer livable. The Earth will continue to be physically present after then, but its surface will be hot and lifeless.

The Sun will not outlive our planet. The planet will be engulfed by our star as our Sun's atmosphere expands due to turning into a red giant.

Another National Geographic report mentioned that living things would not survive without solar heat. In particular, the article said that Earth would freeze without solar heat.

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How This Giant Star Will Die

According to a 2018 research by the University of Manchester that employed computer modeling, our Sun is most likely to finish up as a planetary nebula rather than a white dwarf, like 90% of other stars.

One of the paper's authors, astronomer Albert Zijlstra of the University of Manchester in the UK, explained that when a star dies, it ejects a mass of gas and dust into space known as its envelope.

He stated that the envelope might contain up to half the mass of the star. The star's core is revealed in this; by this time in the star's existence, it is running out of fuel and eventually shutting off before dying.

According to the astronomer, this brief period in astronomy is when the heated core causes the ejected envelope to flash brilliantly for about 10,000 years.

He said that this is what makes the planetary nebula observable. Some stars are so brilliant that they may be seen from tens of millions of light years away, while the star itself would be far too dim to be seen.