All things in this universe have an end just as it all started with the big bang. The sun, around which our solar system is defined upon is expected to have a lifetime of about 10 billion years. Right now the sun is believed to have crossed its 5 billionth birthday. With another 5 billion to go, we can say we are on the safer side as we’ll be long gone by the time we will have to face the wrath of the sun’s demise. The sun converts its hydrogen into helium a process of a proton-proton chain. Once this supply of hydrogen in the sun is used up, things will start to change forever.
Let us discuss what are the things that will happen once the sun’s time is up.
- A brighter day: Once the sun has used up all of its hydrogen, it will be lit up at full power. Thus more of the sun’s rays will be falling on the earth. This will create a scenario of intolerable heat on the surface of our planet eliminating all forms of life on our planet. Similar to the greenhouse effect but much worse.
- A larger sun: Once the d-day happens, the sun will start to expand. Called the red giant phase in the life of a star.
- Then a shorter sun: After the red giant phase wherein it fuses all of its hydrogen comes the white dwarf phase. In this phase, the star shines on for billions of years more with much less energy than in the phase it is in now.
- A different orbit: The red giant phase will expand the planet which should bring our planet closer to the sun’s scorching rays but no. Since the energy in the red giant phase is less, the sun’s gravitational pull decreases and pushes the planets into a new orbit further and safer away from the sun.
Thus, here we have discussed some of the many things that will happen once the sun uses up all of its hydrogen. To learn about more fun facts, topics like eutrophication and more, check out this YouTube channel- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0dXUDiPS0c.