"What will happen to the Earth when the Sun dies?" (Ask an Astronomer)

Our Sun won't live forever. Dr. Carolyn Brinkworth looks at possible endgame scenarios.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• physical
• science
• astronomy
• sun
• red
• giant
• white
• dwarf
• death
• destruction
• doom
• gloom

[andyb9275]

when the earth is burnt completely, that would make saturn the third planet in the solar system, so wouldn't one or more of saturn's large moons be able to sustain life?

[SpitzerScienceCenter]

Some models predict that Jupiter's moon Titan would be in the habitable zone (the animation we used illustrates that possibility), but the red giant phase doesn't last long enough for us to expect complex life to emerge and survive. The thinner atmosphere that one of those moons would have if it were in the habitable zone would make it unsuitable for human life. We'll have to make other plans.

[JKTProductionzIncNCo]

yes IF we can survie another 5 bil years without killing ourselves off or suthin and our tecnology level keps increasing and accelerating then by tht time our descendants shuld be more than prepared to take on this problem , i mean c'mon "they" wont be humans anymore they would be far far more intelligent than us the earth is only about 5 bil yrs old thts only halfway molecular evolution has taken us another 5 bil yrs wow, our inteliigence would be like bacteria copmared to them/ peace dudes =:)

[rainyday219]

@SpitzerScienceCenter , Titan is Saturn's moon, not Jupiter's.

[khuhjg7]

she forgot one phase after the sun turns into a white dwarf it will go out and turn into a black dwarf

[atista007]

Dyke

[nickmaster271]

in 5 billion years we would have found another planet like earth

[dillasbebs622]

@andyb9275 No. The Giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are much farther apart than the inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Also, none of Saturn's moons have all of the requirements for life, the way Earth does.

[frogfan101]

WRONG, 2 HYDREGEN ATOMS MAKE HYDREDGEN-2 (DUETERUIM), AND 2 dueturuim atoms make a heluim or 4 hydregens make a helium.

[Samtheman2001]

I wonder what our suns nebula will be like. Solar System Nebula? Sol Nebula? Nobody knows for sure.

[randy95023]

About a million other things will occur in the next Billion years to exterminate human life, so worrying about the Sun taking us out is not only too far away in time, it's not as relevant as the Life Ending asteroids and comets that will strike every couple of hundred million years or so... Hate to be such a "Gloomy Gus", but enjoy your life NOW and leave these kinds of worries to academia!

[Watrmellom]

its a good thing i wont live for 5 more billion years!

[bandet888]

@SpitzerScienceCenter Titan is a moon of Saturn not Jupiter.