What will the final days of our Sun look like after it dies. Scientists have already predicted the end of the Solar System’s days and when it would happen. We humans won’t see the Sun’s final curtain call.
Previously, astronomers thought the Sun would turn into a planetary nebula – a luminous bubble of gas and cosmic dust – until evidence suggested it would have to be a smidge more massive.
In 2018, an international team of astronomers reversed the equation and discovered that a planetary nubula was indeed the most likely source of solar corpses.
The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old – gauged on the age of other objects in the Solar System that formed around the same time. Astronomers predict that the Sun will end its life in approximately 10 billion years, based on observations made by other stars.
Of course, there are many other things that could happen along the route. The Sun will become a red giant in 5 billion years. While the core of the star will shrink in size, its outer layers will expand to the orbit of MarsOur planet is being engulfed in the process. If it’s still there.
One thing is certain: We will not be here by then. If we don’t find a way to get off of this rock, humanity will have less than 1 billion years. Because the Sun is getting brighter by about 10% every billion years.
This may not sound like much but it will be enough to end all life on Earth. Our oceans and surface will dry up, and water will not form. We will be as bad as possible.
It’s the next step after the red giant, which has been more difficult to pinpoint. Previous studies You have beenThis is necessary in order to have a bright outlook. For the formation of the planetary NebulaIt is necessary that the initial star be at least twice the size of the Sun.
Computer modeling was used in the 2018 study to determine that our Sun will shrink from a giant to a white dwarf. Then, it will end up as a planet nebula.
“When a star dies it ejects a mass of gas and dust – known as its envelope – into space. The envelope can contain as much as half of the star’s total mass. This exposes the star’s core. By this time in the star’s life, it is running out fuel. The star eventually turns off and then dies.” ExplainedAlbert Zijlstra, an astrophysicist from the University of Manchester in England, was one of the authors of this paper.
“It is only then the hot core makes the ejected envelope shine brightly for around 10,000 years – a brief period in astronomy. This is why the planetary nucleus can be seen. They are bright enough to be visible from very far distances, measuring in the tens of thousands of light years. The star would have been too faint to see.
The team developed a data model that predicts the lives of different types stars to determine the brightnesses of planetary nebula related to different star masses.
The observable Universe is home to many planetary nebulae, including the Helix Nebula and the Cat’s Eye Nebula.
Cat’s Eye Nebula (NASA/ESA).
They are referred to as planetary nubulae, not because they are actually related to planets but because William Herschel first discovered them in late 18th-century. Similar in appearance to other planetsThrough the telescopes at the time.
Astronomers discovered something quite remarkable almost 30 years ago: The brightest planetary nuclei in other galaxies have approximately the same brightness. Astronomers can determine how far they are by looking at planetary nebulae from other galaxies.
Although the data proved this to be true, the models did not. This has been frustrating scientists since the discovery.
“Older, low-mass stars should make a fainter planetary system than more massive, young stars. This has been a source for conflict over the last 25 years.” Zijlstra
“The data suggested that bright planetary nubulae could be formed from low-mass stars like the Sun. However, the models stated that it was impossible. Anything less than twice the Sun’s mass would make a planetary nubula too faint to see.
This problem was solved by the 2018 models, which show that the Sun is just below the limit of mass for stars that can produce visible nebulas.
Even a star whose mass is less than the Sun’s, won’t produce visible nebulae. The brighter nebulae will result from larger stars that are up to three times bigger than the Sun.
The predicted brightness for all stars between them is very similar to what we have seen.
Zijlstra said, “This is an excellent result.” . “We have now discovered how to measure the stars’ presence in distant galaxies over a billion years. It is an extremely difficult range to measure.
The journal published the results of the research. Astronomy of Nature.
This article was published in an earlier version in May 2018.
