the death of our sun

i just finished watching sunshine. it's about these scientists going to the dying Sun and implant a bomb to rejuvenate it. so, this caught my attention and i had to find out more about it.

the sun at about 2% of its full brightness

that bright shining star, our sun, has been there for about 4.5 billion years ago and it is 1/3 into its life span. scientists are now predicting the following events during the remaining life of our star:

• In the next 1.1 billion years, its brightness will increase by 10%. This will super-heat our planet as a result of a severe greenhouse effect. All of the oceans on earth will boil away and all life will be destroyed.

• In about 6.5 billion years, our sun will double in brightness and use up all of its supply of hydrogen fuel in its core. This will cause the sun to begin swelling as it uses hydrogen from the layers surrounding the core.

• In about 8 billion years the sun will swell to 166 times its present size. This giant star will swallow up Mercury, Venus, and maybe even our Earth. Our sun will then be what scientists call a Red Giant because it will be very large and red in color.

note: though don't underestimate the Earth. Even inside the sun it will not disintegrate and will continue in its orbit! It's just too massive to be pushed around or boiled away. Bad news for the life ON the Earth, though it's going to be uninhabitable 3 billion years before that anyway.

an illustration of earth under the Red Giant

• After all hydrogen fuel is used, the sun will begin to use helium as its fuel. This fuel will burn very quickly and only last about 100 million years.

• In about 12 billion years, the sun will eject much of its outer layers and become a smoldering, collapsed core that scientists would call a White Dwarf.

white dwarf